Making Promises
by numbah 1 HPFan
Summary: Remus Lily and Keena r on their way to defeating Avada Kedavra. Will they find the spell that protects life? What will they do if they find it? fuller summary inside! PART 3 after Blind Secrets reviews welcome! nxt stry is Promises 2 Secrets,Secrets 2 Lie
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Back Track

**Oh dear, I'm back again! And I'm still broke! Don't own Harry Potter and never will. **

Okay, here's the scoop: Kailey Macauley is our main character; she is going by an alias so to all our other characters she is known as Keena McIntosh. She is currently thirteen years in the past (that's why she's got an alias to begin with), and the Marauders have just graduated (so they're all roughly 18 now).

Remus, Lily and Keena are on a mission. They are trying to find a way to defeat the _Avada Kedavra_ curse before James and Lily's demise (Lily has no idea that she's sitting on death row all she knows is that she's trying to make the world a better place for her future son, Harry, to live).

James knows of and has accepted his fate on death row with Lily, so he hasn't got a clue what the three of them get up to in the Spell Inventions Division of the ministry.

Okay, I think that's enough…Onward!

* * *

Lily, Remus and I stood in front of two tiny phone booths. We exchanged glances with one another before the three of us squeezed ourselves inside of one.

"Remus, hurry up and enter the code, the muggles are starting to look over," Lily said nervously.

"What d'you mean? Muggles aren't supposed to be able to see this thing!" Remus began freaking out.

"You mean we chose the wrong one?"

"Damn it, my shirt is stuck in the stupid door," I said, not really listening to the other two.

"Then pull it out!" Lily said.

"I can't, if I open the door, we'll all tumble out!" I shouted frantically.

"It won't matter; we've got to get in the right one anyway!" Remus argued.

"I'm going to kill Sirius; he told me it was the one on the right!" I shouted furiously.

"You won't be able to kill him unless you open the door," Lily said, her face beginning to turn pink, one of her danger signs.

Suddenly there was a tap on the glass.

"Oh bloody hell," Remus muttered, attempting to bring his hand to his head so that he could rub his temples.

"What? What is it? I can't see," I said, losing what little there was left of my cool.

"It's a police officer," Lily muttered.

"So ask him to open the bleeding door for us!"

"He's getting his nightstick out…" Remus began; a look of sudden understanding came over him.

"What for?" I asked.

"WAIT! DON'T BREAK THE--!"

CRASH!

The officer had swung his stick into the door and the glass had shattered into at least hundreds of little pieces.

"What do you three think you're doing?" the officer asked in a Scottish tone. "If you want to have a two on one shag, you should at least do it where children can't see it!"

"Excuse me?" Lily asked, her face turning bright red.

"Sorry, Sir, won't happen again," Remus said in a rush grabbing Lily and myself round our waists and leading us around a corner and into an alley out of sight of the officer.

"You actually went along with it?" Lily asked outraged.

"Did you have another explanation you were willing to use?"

"I'd rather have told him I was a witch, thank you very much," I said, putting my two cents in.

"Glad to see I'm outnumbered again. Let's remember whose idea it was to ask dear old Sirius for advice!"

I opened my mouth to argue back, but no good comebacks came to me, so I closed it again.

"Point two for Remus," Remus said, holding up two fingers to emphasize his point. "Now, I think the officer has moved on, let's go."

The three of us hurried back and entered the correct phone booth. The only reason I knew it was right was because its door wasn't broken into shards of glass.

Remus entered the code and three pins came out each reading our names as well as Spell Inventions Division—Department of Mysteries. The phone booth brought us strait to our office. It wasn't so much of an office as it was a dungeon. The floor and walls were all thick stone; if we were to make something explode, it wouldn't affect the rest of the ministry. So far we had only caused seven explosions, three of which took place because we all three used our wands on the same object but with different spells. The other four had experiments we knew would backfire, but it sounded like fun anyway.

For the past two years at Hogwarts the three of us had nearly lived in the library. We blamed it all on studying so that we could get the position we were in at the ministry. They only let the most dedicated and serious of workers join Spell Inventions, so we defiantly had a job. Right now, however, we were trying to prove that we had something that could move forward without ministry assistance. If we were unable to, we were going to be back at square one: experimentation in the basement—something Mrs. Potter in particular did not want to see happen.

"Okay, let's run over what we have again before we start today," Lily said, sitting down at her desk, which was neatly organized. She opened a draw and pulled out a two-year old piece of parchment. "Inferi come to life with the incantation _Mortasto incessus, _along with the caster putting a drop of blood onto the tip of his wand."

"After breaking down the incantation we learned that it nearly literally means 'Dead Feet Walking'. We know, Lily, we've done this hundreds of times!" I said. I was growing impatient of how often we went over the bit of information we had discovered at the Hogwarts library at the end of our sixth year. "What we need are the wand movements to create inferi as well as the proper ones for _Avada Kedavra_,"

"Too bad Madame Pince kicked us out of the Hogwarts library after she found out what we were looking for," Remus said bitterly. "Now that woman is the pure medieval muggle definition of witch,"

"She was just doing her job," Lily muttered, digging through papers in a draw I couldn't see.

"Yeah, but she's making our job a lot more difficult," I said, picking up a stress ball Sirius had gotten me as a gag gift for my birthday and throwing it up in the air and catching it again.

"Well, Keena, you're on such good terms with the headmaster, why don't you ask him to let us back in?" Lily asked me sarcastically. Everyone knew that Dumbledore and I rarely if ever got along since I had run away the summer before sixth year.

"Yes, maybe he'll decide to suddenly forgive me for all the trouble I've caused over the course of my seven years at Hogwarts, especially the last two,"

Somehow Dumbledore had gotten it into his incredibly thick head that I should've stopped Sirius from telling Snape to go to the Whomping Willow on a certain night of the month. While Sirius ended up with a month's worth of detentions, I got two. I couldn't wait to see what he would do to me when Sirius escaped Azkaban in the next fourteen years, though I hadn't mentioned this worry to anyone, seeing as no one knew that Sirius was destined to Azkaban.

"He likes you two, maybe he'll let you guys go back into the library even if he doesn't let me in."

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who came up with this whole thing! It wouldn't be right if we did the research without you," Lily answered, throwing the parchment she held in her hands onto her desk.

I smiled and thought for a moment.

"Why don't we find out who invented inferi?" Remus suggested.

"We searched the library for two years on that one, Rem," I reminded him.

"There has to be a book somewhere that has that information," Lily said, clenching her fist around her own stress ball (another gag gift, this one courtesy of James).

I leaned back in my chair and put my feet up on the only empty bit of space on my desk.

"Keena, don't you remember the last time you did that?" Remus cautioned.

"Nope,"

"That's because she was knocked unconscious by the cauldron that we used to keep back there,"

"Oh yeah,"

"What are you two--?" Suddenly my chair flipped out from underneath me and I landed, back first, on the ground, swearing to Merlin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

"C'mon, Keena, what did Merlin and the Founders ever do to you?" Lily laughed, holding her side.

"Well, Slytherin's latest heir was the cause of my foster father's death,"

"Must you dampen the mood?"

"Now that you mention it, Moony, yes," I said, rubbing my back where I had landed on the hard stone floor. "I should get a cushion for behind this thing,"

"Don't you remember that was the noise that made Madame Pince come over to our table in the first place?" Remus scolded.

I gasped.

"What?" Remus asked, looking dumbfounded.

"That's it! There is a book at Hogwarts that might help us! Yes. We need to get there ASAP!" I shouted, jumping up from the ground and grinning widely at my sudden realization. "Lily, you've got it in your notes when the first inferi came into being right?"

"Yes—it was around the time of--"

"Good, just tell me when we get there,"

"Keena, we're not _allowed_, besides there are students studying right now,"

"Why should I give a damn about their studies when we could save lives right now?"

"Aren't we trying to save their lives too?" Lily asked.

"How can we do that without the Hogwarts library?" Lily and Remus exchanged glances before sighing deeply in aggravation. "I knew you'd see it my way," I grinned. "We'll have to see dear old Dumbles first, though. One of you do the talking, I don't think he likes me in the least,"

We went over to the small fireplace that rarely ever burned. I went first, taking the floo powder in my hand and commanding it to take me to Dumbledore. Our fireplace was one of the few that was still connected at Hogwarts, mainly as an escape route if it were ever needed.

I stepped out of the fireplace and into the familiar office of Albus Dumbledore. I was followed in quick succession by Lily and Remus.

"Ah, Miss McIntosh, Miss Evans and Mr. Lupin. To what do I owe this surprise visit?" he asked, barely looking up from his desk. His brow was furrowed and he looked as if he were deep in thought.

"Well, Professor, as you probably know, we're working in the Spell Inventions Division at the Department of Mysteries," Lily stated.

"Yes, those are the rumors I have heard. They are, I take it, true,"

"Yes sir," Lily said, nodding. "But you see, we're looking for some classified information we believe we may find at the Hogwarts library,"

"The problem is, sir, Madame Pince band us from the library in the middle of our last year." Remus finished.

"So that is why Mr. Potter, Black and Pettigrew were so often checking books out near the time of N.E.W.T.s last year," Dumbledore said more to himself than to us.

"Yes, sir, but we really need to get into the library,"

"Madame Pince told me that you three were doing research on inferi. May I inquire why?"

"It's part of our research," I answered vaguely.

"What research would that be?" he said, finally looking into my face.

"The classified research, sir," I said staring back at him determinedly. "Do you not trust us sir?" I asked.

"It is not a matter of trusting you three, more of a matter of trusting that this research is for (for lack of wording) for the greater good,"

"Trust me, sir, if we do this right, we could change the world," Remus answered.

Dumbledore did not seem entirely satisfied with this answer, but he nodded all the same. "Tell Madame Pince I have allowed you three to re-enter the library. You may use it whenever you feel it necessary."

"Thank you so much sir!" Lily said eagerly.

"But be careful. Do not forget to cast shield charms before every test," Dumbledore cautioned. "I had a great friend who once forgot to cast his shield charm. You may now find him in the back of the Godric's Hollow graveyard."

"We will be careful, sir," Remus insisted before we excused ourselves and ran off to the library.

* * *

**And that was the first chapter of Making Promises! I'm actually pleased with how this chapter came out, I think. Please review! Until chapter 2!**

**:-D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Breakthrough

**Okay, the deal is that I am nowhere near as famous as J.K. I am just one of the many fans that wishes on a daily basis I had come up with Harry Potter. Unfortunately I am not Cinderella and my wishes don't come true. **

**I hope you enjoyed chapter one! Here's chapter two!**

* * *

We made it to the doors of the library without a problem. In fact, we had run the entire way, all twenty staircases and seven hallways of it. We had been about to enter when Madame Pince appeared out of nowhere and began brandishing her wand at us, shouting about running in the hallways. Once she realized who we were, our situation didn't improve. 

"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS IN THE CASTLE! I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME! GET AWAY FROM MY LIBRARY! AWAY FROM MY PRECIOUS BOOKS!"

"Madame Pince! Listen to me! Don't you remember us? Remus Lupin, Lily Evans and Keena McIntosh?" Remus tried to shout over her. I looked around and noticed how many students were nearing us to see what all the commotion was.

"YOU THREE? YOU'RE NOT STUDENTS; THEREFORE YOU'RE NOT AUTHORIZED TO BE HERE! OUT! OUT I SAY!" she continued to screech.

"Madame Pince, there is no need to shout," I said firmly. A couple of students behind us laughed. "We are authorized to be here, we've just received permission from Dumbledore himself,"

Madame Pince looked as if she wished to continue shouting, but she resisted. "The headmaster wishes to allow you three entry after what I caught you up to last year? Fine! If he wants to risk everything, I'll let him, but be warned, if you get up to any funny business you will be kicked out."

"Madame Pince, we are doing research for the ministry's Spell Inventions Division. To interfere would land you at least a year in Azkaban," Remus whispered to her. "Think of the state of your books if you were away from them for a year,"

Her eyes grew wide and she looked terrified at the thought. "Very well, but do not disturb the children,"

"Thank you,"

We rushed inside as she shouted at the students to return to their classrooms. I headed strait to the back of the library underneath a window that overlooked the mountainous background of the Hogwarts grounds.

"Here it is. The Log of Hogwarts students. It has information on every student to ever come through Hogwarts, including their accomplishments, whether they were good or evil," I said smiling. "Course this'll only do us any good if the inventor of inferi came to Hogwarts."

"Oh, I've heard of this book," Lily said. "They've got a similar one at Durmstrang,"

"That should be our second stop if we don't find the inventor here. Durmstrang focuses on dark magic," Remus suggested.

"Alright the first inferi was sighted in the early seventeen hundreds, so…" Lily opened the book to the appropriate century and began scanning the pages.

"This is very efficient," Remus commented after we'd been searching for an hour.

"Maybe he didn't come to Hogwarts," I muttered.

"That would suck,"

"Ow!" Lily dropped the page she was holding and brought her finger to her mouth. Remus and I stared. "Paper cut," she said, sucking on her finger.

I sighed and took over turning pages.

"Wait!" Remus said. "Look here; _Donahue Inge__ class of 1621: Accomplishments—perfected the Haiti re-birthing ritual and coined term Inferi. Publisher and Author of: _Recreating Life._ Occupation—None. Last known place to be living—Haiti. October 7, 1604-November 9, 1716,"_ Remus looked up at us. "We've got him,"

"Did we bring parchment?" I asked as Lily began rummaging through her bag. She pulled out parchment and a quill. "What about ink?" I asked.

"No, we must've forgotten it," she said. "I'll go back and get it,"

"No, I'll just ask a student for some," I said. I walked over to a table were a girl with teal hair was sitting. "Excuse me, but could I borrow some ink?"

She looked up and nodded. "You're from the ministry aren't you?" she asked digging around in her bag to find her ink. I didn't answer. "I'm getting ready to train to become an auror. Dumbledore says I might even graduate early,"

"What year are you?" I asked.

"Fourth," she replied. "I'm the only one who asked if I could try and take my O.W.L.s this year,"

"Won't you miss out on a lot though?" I asked as she began to hand me her inkbottle.

She shook her head. "I really want to help out with the war and stuff."

"Don't be too anxious,"

She shrugged, but in the process lost control of her inkbottle. It went flying and landed about a foot from where Remus and Lily were standing. They barely noticed as the inkbottle splattered the stuff everywhere.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Let me help you with that," She ran over with her wand out.

"It's alright," Lily said, noticing the ink, though Remus was still tuned out. She waved her wand and the ink was back in the bottle.

"I'm sorry," the girl said again, blushing. But as she blushed, I noticed her hair began to change color. I gasped.

"You're a Metamorphmagus," I muttered.

"Yeah, I think that's a good thing to be if you want to be an auror," she said quietly. "You can keep the ink, I've got loads more," she ran off in an embarrassed huff, taking her bag with her.

Shaking my head, I walked back over to where Lily was now frantically copying the notes on Donahue Inge.

"Now all we need to do is find that book he wrote and we'll be a lot further ahead than we have been for months!" Remus was saying excitedly. "Finally, more research that we can actually do,"

"Do you think that this book would be in the Restricted Section?" I asked, my eyes traveling over to the shelves that were blocked off.

"It's worth a try," Lily said, putting the quill down and re-reading what she had written before putting everything back in her bag. "Let's go look,"

"Don't we need a pass?"

"We're of age and working for the ministry, why would we need a pass?"

"I dunno," I muttered. Madame Pince had been eyeing us from a table not too far from where I had asked the girl to borrow ink.

We walked into the Restricted Section and began scanning the shelves for Inge's name. We looked through all of the shelves and couldn't find the name anywhere. Nor did we find the title of the book or anything close to it. In fact, there wasn't a single book that even suggested it held dark magic.

"I thought the Hogwarts library was the most accomplished library in Britain," Lily said in outrage.

"It is, but that doesn't mean it has books on dark magic. One of the old headmasters or even Dumbledore could've decided to take that book out before a student found it," Remus said.

"Or maybe a student stole it," I added darkly.

"I'd rather think a headmaster took it," Remus replied.

"We can't block off the not so nice options just because we don't like the outcome," Lily said.

Remus just shook his head.

"Lily, I believe we've just upped the score. It now stands 1:2," I said, high fiving Lily. Remus shook his head as we began to go around the shelves for the third time.

* * *

"It's not here, Remus, we should just go back to the ministry and work from there," Lily and I had given up long ago. Remus just wouldn't accept that the book was nowhere to be found. 

"Keena is right, Remus. We could go into the ministry's records and search for book publications there. They've got to have something on Inge,"

"No, they wouldn't because he invented inferi in a different country. Hell, he invented it across the bloody ocean!" _Must be getting close to that time of the month again…_

"Remus, calm down. We'll find the stuff we need, we just might not do it tonight," Lily said, recognizing Remus' danger signs; nervous pacing, short temper and more use of improper language.

"Then we'll go across the ocean," I said.

"No we won't. We aren't certified researchers over there, ergo we'd be tourists." Lily said, squashing my idea that the book might be across the sea.

"Fine, then we'll look at a bookstore or something,"

"Keena, what bookstore do you know of that would collect something as dark as a book that forces the dead out of their eternal rest?"

I thought for a long time. "I've got no clue! You two are the book worms!" I burst out finally.

"Excuse me," Madame Pince had appeared from behind a bookshelf. "No shouting in the library. Oh and we're closing so take your ridiculous spasm elsewhere!"

"It's only seven o'clock," Lily argued.

"Yes, and that is when guests have to leave. You do not seriously think that this castle is open for anyone to come gallivanting into all hours of the night, do you? Heavens, in this day and age we have to close especially early."

"Fine, but we'll see you tomorrow about a certain book," I said, dragging myself off of the ground.

"You're coming back?" the three of us looked at her before trading glances.

"Well of course we are," Remus answered. "You don't honestly think we've finished our research, do you?"

She said nothing, but hurried off in a huff, shouting at a pair of fifth years snogging in a corner.

* * *

By the time we got back to the ministry and filed our newest information it was well past eight and none of us had had anything to eat all day long. 

"I say we close up early and get something to eat," I said, sitting down behind my desk, though taking care not to put my feet up.

"No, I promised James that I'd have dinner with him tonight," Lily answered, putting away the last of our latest findings.

"So? I told Sirius I'd eat with him tonight. I might just eat twice,"

"Well, not all of us have that sort of metabolism,"

"It's not my metabolism; it's the fact that I haven't eaten a proper meal all day!"

"If we close up early tonight, we can't tomorrow," Remus said from his corner of the 'office'. It wasn't as neat as Lily's, though it was like an empty room compared to mine.

"I knew we were nearing that time of the month! And to think I forgot to get you chocolate!" I said in mock surprise.

"Ha ha, very funny," Remus said sarcastically.

"Seriously, though, we should leave early tonight. I'm starving. Besides we all know we'll be working late tomorrow; we've got to find that book,"

Remus rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Well, what do I tell James?"

"Tell him you worked late and you're tired and you'll do dinner some other time,"

"I can't lie to him,"

"It's not a lie! You're working late because we all know it's hard work for you to change plans at the last moment. You are tired and you will do dinner another time. It all works out," I said. As a bonus, my stomach happened to growl loudly. "You see? My entire body is agreeing with me!"

"Well, I would hope so," Remus muttered.

"C'mon, my treat,"

Lily looked at Remus for help. "Don't look at me, I haven't got any plans."

"Alright, just this once,"

We locked the doors and put special jinxes of our own design on all of the draws in the room before leaving the ministry for the night. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately in Lily's case) everywhere we went was closed for the night. Even the Wizard's One Second Order, Two Second Delivery (a restaurant similar to a pizza joint) was closed for the night due to the dangerous circumstances in 'these unstable and unpredictable times'.

"Looks like we're going strait home," Lily said in would-be cherry voice had I not looked so put out. "Why don't you stop at Sirius, James and Remus' apartment with me, Keena?"

"Lovely that you're inviting someone to my home," Remus said, a smile hinting on his face.

"Isn't it?"

"Sure, I'll stop by. Maybe James and Sirius won't have eaten your entire cabinet, Moony," I said brightly.

"It won't matter; they're the ones who do the shopping when I'm in my mood,"

"Ah, so they eat less do they?"

"Exactly,"

"Are you sure Amanda won't mind you coming home late, Lily?" I asked. I knew that Lexi would probably jump a mile high when I walked through the door. Nickie would probably just sleep through my intrusion.

"I doubt she'll even be back from St. Mungo's yet,"

We all lived in the same apartment building, even on the same floor. Amanda and Lily had their apartment right next to Lexi, Nickie and mine. Remus, James and Sirius shared an apartment a little ways down the hall from us. Peter had opted to live with his mom until he found a 'steadier' job (he currently worked for a catalog company). The only reason Mrs. Potter agreed with our living situation was because Lexi, Nickie, James and Sirius were all well on their way to becoming accomplished aurors, they had even been called out to deal with attacks already. Amanda was very close to being a full-time healer. As the war continued, she was called in earlier and earlier.

We aparated to a street corner just next to the muggle owned apartment building. It was a large, brick building with six upper floors and two lower floors (one of which held the basement). We lived on the fourth floor up.

We stopped in front of the boys' room and, on Remus' request, knocked first.

There was some running around behind the door a shout of "Who the bloody hell comes at nine at night?" and an eye appeared in the eyehole.

"Password?" demanded James' hazel eye.

"James Potter, you don't have a password!" Lily hissed outraged.

"I know that, but Sirius was in his boxers and wanted me to stall,"

"I heard that!" came Sirius' muffled voice from somewhere behind the door.

"Just open the bloody door,"

"Is it that time of the month already?" James asked opening the door. Remus glowered. "Oi! Padfoot, we've gotta do the grocery shopping tomorrow!"

"Bugger," Sirius replied coming into the room, zipping up his fly.

"You are hopeless," I said, reaching up to ruffle Sirius' hair.

"That's why I've got you," he replied, giving me a light kiss.

"You see what we can be, Lily?" James asked. "He doesn't even ask permission from her!"

"Neither do you," she said, allowing him to hug her.

"I think I may vomit," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, Moony, don't give up! There's surly someone out there for you,"

"How about that fourth year that made a fool of herself at the sight of you," Lily supplied.

"What?" we all chorused.

"Keena, you didn't notice?"

"Not that," I replied. "I thought she was just clumsy,"

Lily shrugged. "Well, I noticed when she looked up and saw him she lost her cool,"

"Maybe she was intimidated by your red hair," Sirius suggested.

"Why did you see a fourth year?" James asked.

"Same reason I go to the ministry everyday," Lily smiled.

"Damn you Unspeakables,"

Once more my stomach made its presence known.

"Sirius, I'm hungry," I whined.

"Good thing I know you so well,"

James and Sirius headed into the kitchen and came out levitating five trays of food. They set them down on the coffee table and we all sat down.

"It's cold," Remus stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Be thankful we didn't try the heating charm," James grinned as Sirius nodded vigorously.

"Couldn't remember the wand movements. It's supposed to be the women's job to cook hot meals for when the husband gets home," Sirius informed us.

"Not the other way around," James finished.

We ate our dinner while listening to Sirius and James go on about their day. They had 'defeated' an 'army' of 'death eaters' (a bunch of sacks of hay charmed to attack them with simple spells a fifth year could do).

Lily and I bade them goodnight around eleven before heading back to our own apartments.

"Night Lily," she waved back and I opened the door as quietly as I could.

I turned on the lights to find the apartment a mess. It was a good thing I didn't have Lily or Amanda as roommates anymore. I turned around to lock the door, and when I turned back it was to find myself face to face with an armed, slightly insane looking, Lexi.

"Oh, it's just you," she replied, lowering her wand.

"Yep, sorry I'm late again,"

"No it's fine. I figured you were with Sirius or someone," Lexi yawned.

"Where's Nickie?"

"You know her, once she's out, she's out,"

I laughed and nodded.

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting,"

"It's no problem. Just help me with the spells,"

Every night, once all three of us were home and ready for bed we'd lock our door and windows with every protective spell we knew. The only people who could penetrate our defenses were Lily and Remus for the soul purpose that they had been the ones to help invent the spells. It was a good thing, though. It meant that everyone on our floor had at least one person who could get into the other rooms if there was ever an emergency.

"Night, Lexi," I called after her, her blonde hair all in a tussle from it being so late.

"Night,"

I poked my head into Nickie's room (purely for the enjoyment of bugging her). "Night Nickie!" I nearly yelled.

"Eh?"

"I said goodnight,"

"Bugger off, Keena,"

"You tell me that every night, but I know it means 'have a wonderful night, dear friend'," I said cheerfully.

"Whatever, just go to bed,"

"Will do," I said, skipping back to my room, shutting off all of the lights as I went.

* * *

**I think that's a good enough place to stop. So, that's it for chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll review! Until chapter 3!**

**:-D**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Unforgiving Unspeakable

**I've checked and re-checked and I'm certain that I'm not J.K. Rowling, therefore I don't own Harry Potter and I never will no matter how much I'd like to. There's a bit of ****blood content**** and some violence in here! **

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

It had been several months (in fact we'd gone from late May to early December) since we had learned of Donahue Inge's existence and still we hadn't found the book he had written, _Recreating Life. _We had gone all over Britain, searching for at least a scrap of paper left over from the book. We'd even ventured into Knockturn Alley and asked the guy at Borgin and Burkes if he'd ever heard of Inge. 

"I say we go to Durmstrang," Remus stated one day. "We can get a permit from the head of our department and go over."

"Remus no one's even seen the head since he came out to certify us, and I don't think they're letting in anymore Unspeakables." Lily reasoned.

"Then we'll go to Durmstrang uncertified," I proposed.

"We can't do that, they'll send us to Azkaban," Lily shot back.

"Not if we go in disguise," Remus said. "We could pose as transfers. Dumbledore'll help us,"

"I doubt he'd help us break rules," Lily said in a disapproving tone that reminded me of Hermione for a second.

"He would if he knew what we were doing," I said quietly.

"You know we can't reveal any of our work," Lily replied equally quiet. "Even discussing that could get us fired,"

"Hey, there's always Mrs. Potter's basement," I smiled.

"Speaking of her how is she?" Remus asked, changing the subject.

"She'd be better if she knew who was coming to the Christmas dinner she's hosting. It isn't on that time of the month is it?" I answered in return with my own question.

"No, I should be able to come. My parents too, didn't I tell you?"

"No,"

"Oops,"

"What about you, Lily?"

"Well, my parents want to meet James as well as my sister's fiancé, but I could ask them to have dinner with us on Christmas Eve instead. I don't much like my sister," she added.

"I don't like her or her fiancé," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"What?"

"What did you say?"

"When?"

"Just now?"

"Just now? I said 'when' just now,"

"No, not then, I meant before,"

"Huh?"

"No. Wait…uh…oh just forget it,"

"Okay,"

Lily still hadn't got a clue I was from the future. I was hoping to tell her before Harry was born, so I still had a few more years. She had figured out on her own that Remus was a werewolf. She'd been completely understanding of his situation and even helped make excuses for him when people noticed that it was just the two of us doing something for work. We usually moved as a trio.

Remus was allowed to work at the ministry in exchange that he tests new products to prevent the monthly transformation. The head of our department had met with him just before we'd been hired and asked him if he was up to testing potions or charms to stop his lycanthropy. Of course, they still paid him big bucks (well galleons and such) to put his life on the line like that. The potions were first tested on dogs then wolves then Remus.

"Now, since Remus so kindly got us off track, can we please figure out how to get to the Durmstrang library?" Lily said bringing me back to reality.

I sighed. "You know we might as well try and find the head."

"But we don't even know the guy's name!" Lily implored.

"So? You can't just hire three new-bee's and then disappear off the face of the earth! Someone must know where he is,"

"How embarrassing is that, we've got to go ask where his office is,"

"No, we go to where we first met him and ask whoever's there," Remus corrected. "It's not like the rest of the ministry will ever find out,"

So the three of us began our hunt for the head of the Department of Mysteries. The Department of Mysteries was nearly as large as the rest of the ministry and we made up one seventh of the ministry's workers exactly. Whenever they hired new workers, they had to make sure that our total number was either divisible by seven or one seventh of something. It seemed very superstitious to me, but then we did get every Friday the thirteenth off. In October if the thirteenth happened to be a Friday we'd get the whole week off, so I wasn't complaining.

"Lupin, Evans, McIntosh, what are the three of you doing?" asked a short wizard with scruffy red hair standing outside of a black door. He had been bent over, as if he were looking at something on the door but had stood strait up when he'd seen us coming

"We're looking for the head," Remus supplied.

"Might I inquire as to why?"

"No," I said.

"Come now, we Unspeakables must band together,"

"We don't even know who you are, though you seem to know us," Lily said.

"Me? You don't know me? I'm surprised to hear that! My name is Augustus, fine lady, Augustus Rookwood," he said, bowing to Lily.

"I've never heard of a Rookwood," I stated, though I had a feeling I had. His name sounded very familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd heard it.

"Well, you haven't even been here a year have you?" he spat at me.

I exchanged a look with Remus as Rookwood turned back to Lily.

"So, you're looking for the head? He's right in there," he nodded to the door behind him. "But he's in a meeting right now with a wizard from Belgium," he added quickly.

"That's alright; we'll disturb them anyway," Remus said, knocking on the door.

No one answered.

Remus knocked again a little harder.

No answer.

Remus banged his fist on the door and a few other doors along the corridor opened to see what was going on.

"Sir?" Lily shouted through the door. "Sir are you alright?"

Still no answer.

"_Imperio!" _I heard Rookwood shout. Then nothingness. I was floating. It was nice.

_Attack them…all of them…_

_But why? I like most of them…_

_No, they hate you. They want you to die. Get them before they get you._

_Hmm…no…sounds like trouble…_

_There will be trouble unless you get them!_

_I don't understand…_

_YOU STUPID BITCH! JUST KILL THEM!_

…_No._

"_Crucio!" _

The floating stopped. I fell to the floor. It was pain. Worse than fire, but colder than ice. It felt like my skin was being torn apart, my body being mutilated cell by cell. I screamed, but I couldn't hear myself, there was too much pain.

Suddenly it stopped. I heard a thud, but I didn't dare open my eyes. I was shaking uncontrollably.

"Rookwood," I whispered. A sudden realization came over me. "He was…he was a death eater…passed information…" I gasped out.

"Keena!" my eyes shot open and I found myself staring into Lily's eyes.

"Sick…" I whispered.

"What?" Lily asked, panicking.

Remus took over, rolling me onto my side, away from Rookwood's unconscious body. I vomited violently, managing to spit up blood in the process. The room seemed much colder than it had before and I was shivering, my eyes wide and staring strait ahead. Someone had gone inside the head's office. I could see him. His cold lifeless body lying on the ground in dead surprise…

"Better get her out of here, Lupin, the dementors are on there way. Take her home," said a burly man with a deep voice.

Remus lifted me off the ground and carried me back to our office, but all I could see was the head of the department lying on the floor.

"Remus, you can't take her to the apartment," Lily whispered as if I couldn't hear.

"I'll take her to Mrs. Potter; she'll know what to do. Then I'll come back and get Sirius," Remus told Lily.

We flooed to Potter Mansion. Mrs. Potter was in the kitchen with the house elves, making cookies and biscuits when we arrived. She shrieked at the sight and then everything went black as I fainted.

* * *

I moaned. Everything ached. Muscles in my arms and legs I didn't even know I had were screaming for attention and ice. Or maybe warmth. I couldn't decide if I was too cold or too warm. Everything just hurt. 

"Keena?" Someone close by whispered. I knew the tone of voice well; worried, scared, and frightened.

I opened my eyes slowly, only to close them quickly. Even my eyelids hurt a little. The room was very bright. Almost too bright.

"Keena? Can you hear me?" Sirius asked again.

I managed to open my eyes and force them to stay open. I was in my old room and the thick winter blankets were pulled up to my chin.

"Thank God you're awake," Sirius sighed. "You've been out for hours."

"Have I?" I moaned.

"They got Rookwood. He's in Azkaban. They're going to see how much information he passed on,"

"God, I'm so stupid!" I said through gritted teeth as a wave of pain went through me.

"You aren't. Moony told me. Rookwood put you under the Imperius Curse. You didn't even do anything when he did. Actually, Remus said that's why he got mad in the first place,"

"No, Sirius, you don't understand. I remembered his name. I didn't figure it out until after, but I knew he was a death eater in the back of my head!" I whispered.

"Keena, I know this must be hard, but it's not your fault," he said firmly.

I sighed, too tired to argue.

"Where are the others?"

"Remus and Lily are being questioned by," Sirius sniggered. "James and Nickie,"

"Interrogated is more like." I muttered, shaking my head. "They're probably exhausting them of every ear splitting detail. What about Lexi?"

"She's in the other room; I made her wait outside so that I could talk to you first,"

"Why couldn't you or James just talk to me?"

"James is your foster brother and I'm your boyfriend; the information would be compromised."

"But she's my roommate," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're an Unspeakable. No one knows where you live or with whom,"

"Oh,"

"Hang on, I'll go get her," he walked over to the door but then stopped and looked back. He looked torn about leaving, so he just called Lexi from the door.

She came into the room, her shoulder length hair tied up in a ponytail. Her face was in the most serious expression I'd ever seen it in. She was closely followed by a tall black man in dark blue robes.

"Hello, Miss McIntosh," she said in a voice that seemed unnatural to me, but I guessed she was trying to impress whoever that guy was. "I'm Auror Riggs and this is Auror Shacklebolt. We're here to ask you a few questions,"

I sighed in relief. I knew who both of them were, whether or not they knew it.

"Can you explain what happened?"

I told them exactly what happened. Every detail. I told them how I had seen Rookwood leaning towards the door and how he'd quickly said the head was in a meeting. How he'd seemed suspicious to me at least and then I told them about the actual attack.

"Is that all?" Lexi asked, a hint of concern escaping through her mask.

"I saw him on the floor," I said suddenly, sitting up.

"Who?"

"The head. He was just lying there. He looked so surprised," I frowned and looked away from them all. A dull wave of pain went through my body again and I shivered a little.

"Thank you for your help," Lexi said standing. "Feel better,"

I nodded, still looking away from everyone.

Lexi and Kingsley left quietly and shut the door.

I turned my head to look at Sirius. He looked stunned.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to find Sirius sleeping in a chair next to my bed, his hand still holding mine. I glanced over at the clock. It was ten in the morning. 

"Sirius," I whispered. He stirred. "Sirius, we're late for work,"

He grinned a sleepy, sloppy grin.

"What?"

"No work today, it's Friday the thirteenth, and my boss gave me the day off,"

"Oh, sorry," I said. I'd lost track of time.

"Let's see what Mrs. P's got for breakfast," Sirius yawned.

We shuffled downstairs, Sirius because he was tired, me because I was slightly sore. I was hoping he wouldn't notice.

We entered the kitchen to find Mrs. Potter making pancakes.

"Good morning," Sirius announced groggily.

Mrs. Potter jumped and turned. "Keena, you're alright!" she ran over and enveloped me in a motherly hug. When she let go she had tears in her eyes. "Goodness, you scared me. Sirius, you shouldn't have made her walk down the stairs, I would've brought breakfast up," she admonished.

"I wanted to walk, Mrs. Potter," I said quickly.

"Alright then. I'll just trust that Sirius put up a good fight,"

"Oh, I almost let him win this time. Just to even out the score of course," I smiled.

Mrs. Potter laughed and returned to making breakfast.

"I just get so worried with all of you working there," she rambled. "The worst can happen to even the best aurors. And in Spell Inventions, well God only knows one wrong flick and that's it,"

"But you know how careful we are," I smiled.

"Oh, of course I do, dear,"

Green flames rose in the fire suddenly and we all looked over, Sirius taking out his wand, but stowing it away again when Remus and Lily stepped out of the fireplace.

"Hope we're not interrupting, but we wanted to make sure you were okay," Remus said to me.

"Oh, don't be silly, make yourselves at home," Mrs. Potter said, summoning two more place sets. "Remus, are you and your parents going to make Christmas dinner?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you sooner,"

"It's quiet alright, Selina and Conan just weren't sure if you'd have the day off. Lily, what are your plans with James this year?"

"Well my parents want to have a huge family get together. Huge meaning my sister and her fiancé and me and James all in the same house, at the same time and in the same room…" her voice trialed off.

"I'm sure it'll turn out fine," Mrs. Potter consoled, though she didn't sound sure.

We spent the day talking about nothing. Sirius and Remus pulled out a chessboard sometime after lunch and they battled all the way through dinner. Lily left around ten because she didn't want Amanda to stay at home by herself. She promised to put up the protective spells around my apartment as well as around the boys' apartment.

James arrived around eleven.

"It's a good thing I came here first," he said when he saw Remus and Sirius still battling in the corner of the living room. "I would've come home to an incredibly messy, empty apartment,"

"How was your day?" Mrs. Potter asked, kissing her son on his check (she couldn't reach his forehead).

"Not quite as eventful as yesterday," he said. "You alright?" he added, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah," I said. He pulled me into a hug, but quickly let go as Remus let out a cry of joy.

"Finally! I win!"

"No way! You don't play for twelve plus hour's strait and then end it like that! That was a pansy move!" Sirius complained.

"I think it's time we all went to bed," Mrs. Potter laughed.

"Mom, we're grown ups. Adults. We can make our own decisions," James argued.

"That may be, but you're still my little boys. And girl," she added.

I smiled. "I agree."

"Keena," Remus pulled me to the side before we all went upstairs. "We should put up those defensive charms now,"

I nodded and we charmed and jinxed every entrance to the house, including the fireplace. It was impossible to get within two hundred feet of the house by the time we'd finished.

We went to our old bedrooms, biding one another good night.

I laid down in my bed and stared quietly at the ceiling. My mind wandered back into the day before as I fell asleep.

I jerked awake in the middle of the night. At first I thought I heard someone scream. Then I realized I had been the one screaming.

"Keena?" Sirius, James and Remus stood at my door, their wands ready.

I didn't answer, just started shaking. Tears slid down my face as I looked at them.

Sirius walked over and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

"Me too," he replied.

* * *

**There. That's the end of this chapter! I'll get 4 up ASAP! Reviews help to motivate! Thanks!**

**:-D**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Blue Hair, Red Blood

**Disclaim. **

**There was a question about why Keena/Kailey reacted that way from the Curse from a certain reviewer (cough cough momiji'sunusedhalo). She isn't in the right time-period, so spells hit her a little harder than they would a normal witch or wizard. Harry didn't react the same in GoF because (as we all know) he's not a normal wizard to begin with. Okay…I think that's all…read and enjoy! **

* * *

The war was continuing to heighten at a rapid pace. People were dying at such a speed; the Prophet's obituary page had been expanded to four large pages of small print. I hadn't even known there were that many people in Britain. 

A building on the same street of our apartment had been attacked in early February, so we had all decided it'd be safest to move to a different location. I have to say, I felt really bad for Mrs. Potter. I moved back into my old room, accompanied by Lexi and Nickie, whom we set up bunk beds for. James, Sirius and Remus moved back into James' old room, while Lily and Amanda took over the remaining guest bedroom Sirius had used during our last two summers at Hogwarts.

The house was generally quiet during the day, but at night when we were all finally back (the time ranging from eleven thirty to well past one in the morning) Mrs. Potter was sure to have something on the table for us. She insisted nobody eat until everyone was home. The latest we had waited was for Amanda, who had handled an emergency at St. Mungo's nearly single-handedly while her superiors went on a two-minute coffee-break at two thirty in the morning.

There were, however, relaxing moments. They occurred nearly everywhere, too.

It was now mid-March and Lily, Remus and I were experimenting with a new spell some crazy witch swore had helped her shield her entire house from Death Eaters without moving her wand at all. This was highly unlikely because the more complex a spell got or the more it did, the more your wand had to move. The Spell Inventions Division was now handling about twenty of these cases a week. People were desprate and trying to make their own spells, but we still had to test them for safety.

So, aiming our wands at a selected area of wall in our dungeon-office, we fired the spell. Apparently, we all did something wrong. Remus' wand let off a bright teal light the shimmered about two feet in front of him, not even reaching the wall, before it went out. Lily's wand allowed a shimmering ball of forest green light to begin bouncing insistently around the room. My wand let out an orange beam that pounded the wall and bounced back, hitting me full in the face, causing me to laugh in an unnaturally high-pitch.

"What a surprise," Lily said, shaking her head. I nodded, still laughing.

"Suppose it'll—Ha!—Wear off?" I asked, trying to cover my mouth.

"If it doesn't, we'll just put a silencing charm on you," Remus answered, eyeing the bouncing green ball with more interest. "I'm more concerned with getting rid of that,"

"Let me secure some papers, then we can blow it up," Lily said, walking over to her desk, smiling at me as I continued to laugh.

"Maybe--" I paused to laugh. "Maybe the explo—explo—explosion'll knock some sense into me," I forced out.

"We'd have to leave you unshielded," Lily answered, shaking her head.

"Might as well try," Remus said.

Remus and Lily set up the proper amount of shields around themselves, while layering me with only two.

They counted to three before firing a royal blue blast from their wands, causing the bouncing ball to explode in a blue mass. I fell over from the force and stopped laughing immediately. I shook my head and stood up.

"Thank God. That was getting annoying." I said, turning to face the other two. They didn't say anything for a second, and then they burst out laughing. "What?" I asked confused.

"Your hair! Some of it turned blue!" Lily choked out.

"Blue?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

I grabbed frantically at my hair and held a clump, pulling it into my line of vision. Sure enough, amongst the false black Dumbledore had given me so many years ago (or will give, depending on your view) was some royal blue matching the spell they had fired at the green ball.

"Nickie's going to be jealous," Lily joked.

"I doubt it; she just had her hair re-dyed the other day. There's more teal in it now." I said absentmindedly.

The rest of the day was spent de-bunking spells and curses from various witches and wizards who thought they had invented a new spell.

* * *

"Remus," I said in dead seriousness. 

"Yes, Keena?"

"It's cold here,"

"I told you to bring a good cloak," Remus scolded.

"It's March. I shouldn't need that good of a cloak," I said angrily.

"Didn't you listen to the headmaster? He said the students here wear wool,"

"1) I'm allergic to wool and 2) that's beside the point,"

"Not really,"

"Fine. You win. When do we get to go inside?"

"As soon as we're given access,"

"Dumbledore was supposed to have this all set up for us," Lily chimed in.

"It will be. Have a little faith," Remus said.

My teeth chattered.

We were standing in a vacant looking field. About a foot of snow lay on the ground and we were surrounded by more mountains than I had ever seen in my life all together. _So this is Durmstrang… _I thought bitterly.

It had taken some persuading, but we had finally gotten Dumbledore to help us gain access to the foreign school. Any kind of permit we could've gotten was now way out of the question. The ministry and the Spell Inventions Division both hadn't seen any reason to give us that kind of trust. We were, after all, 'new'.

"Look there," Lily pointed out suddenly.

I followed where her gloved finger was pointing to see a large castle emerging out of nowhere. Its walls were solid, charcoal colored stone and it had about fifty towers, all organized to face at least two of the surrounding mountains. The entrance was a sweeping staircase that wound up the largest of the towers that projected from the castle's front. Few of the small windows held any sort of light in them. Most were as dark as the school itself.

We began to ascend the stairs, which were surprisingly wider than they had looked from the bottom step. About two-thirds of the way up the tower we reached a hard, oak door. It swung open as we approached to reveal a splendid hall. The floor was made of dark gray marble and the walls were of a smooth sort of stone. We entered the tower and found ourselves facing a tall, thin man. His face was gaunt and slightly unnerving at first, but he broke into a smile moments later.

"Vell," he said, opening his arms in welcome. "You are ze three Professor Dumbledore has told me about?"

"Yes sir," Remus said. "You must be Professor Dray,"

"Yes, that is me. I understand you vould like to have a look at ze library?"

We nodded and he motioned for us to follow him.

"Vell, vot do you think so far? Vishing you had come here instead of Hogvorts?" He laughed lightly at our confused silence. "Of course not. Vot am I saying? Dumbledore is too good a man,"

After descending several floors, we arrived at an entry way inscribed with words of some language I didn't understand.

"This is vhere I vill leave you. I have instructed the students to leave you to your vork. No one should bother you. Good luck,"

"Thank you very much, Professor," Lily said before he walked away.

We walked into the library. The shelves ran in a similar manner to the Hogwarts library, but it didn't seem as large. A librarian sat at her desk, reading a book of his own, ignoring the low hum coming from the busy students. We found the Dark Arts section without a problem and began searching the shelves. The first five shelves only contained books by a person with an 'A' as the first initial. We needed an 'I'.

We found the correct shelf, or at least the first shelf containing an 'In' as the first two letters.

"Over here!" Remus whispered excitedly, pulling out a dark volume.

"It's thinner than I expected," I observed. The book looked as though it contained only a hundred or so pages.

"I can't believe we spent all this time looking and it was right here all along," Lily said happily, though a hint of frustration came through her words.

"Open it," I said, tapping the book excitedly.

* * *

We didn't get back to Potter Mansion until one thirty that morning. It had taken some persuasion, but we had convinced Professor Dray to let us take the book with us with the promise of returning it as soon as humanly possible. He had agreed, saying if it was to help the war, he would gladly oblige. 

What was surprising was we weren't the last ones to arrive home. We arrived to find Amanda and Mrs. Potter talking animatedly across the table.

"Oh, it's you three," Amanda said, lowering her wand, a habit we had all picked up when the floo was used.

"The others aren't back yet?" I asked, sitting down next to Amanda.

She shook her head in reply.

We waited up for them for another hour before Amanda and Lily showed any visible signs of worry. Remus and I kept exchanging nervous glances while Mrs. Potter stared into her teacup. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

We all stiffened. No one ever used the door. Ever.

The knock became more insistent and we all drew our wands. Remus approached the door cautiously, and looked through the peephole. He gasped, before grabbing the door handle, but then hesitated. One thing was certain; he recognized whoever was on the other side of that door.

I tapped him on the shoulder and he moved so I could have a look. I gasped at the sight of Sirius holding up a bleeding James. Sirius banged on the door again, this time shouting.

"Moony! Stop being so smart and let us in!" Sirius shouted.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked when Remus looked to me questioningly. He nodded and wrenched the door open.

Sirius fell into the room with James in tow. Remus helped tug him inside while Lily and I began throwing up all the shields we could think of before closing the door.

"What happened? Where are the other two?" Amanda asked as they tugged James into the living room.

"They're coming, but they said they'll floo. There was a massive attack at the corner of Knockturn and Diagon," Sirius said, panting. "We fired as many spells as we could think of, but those Death Eaters wouldn't die!"

My breath caught in my throat and I exchanged a look with Lily.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked sharply.

"I mean we were given permission to use deadly force, but nothing happened. Amanda, you can help James right?"

"Yes, just tell me what they did to him," she said as she summoned a towel from the other room.

"Those things tackled him. I don't know what they did,"

"Can you describe what they look like?" Sirius looked confused to see that it was Lily asking about the creatures.

"They were…they looked dirty, as if they'd been rolling around in the dirt. Some of 'em had skin dripping off their face. It was disgusting,"

"Inferi," Remus told Amanda.

"Inferi? But how?"

"It doesn't matter how, can you help him?"

"Of course. A dead spell won't last for long; he'll wake up in no time. Just give me a minute to think,"

"While she's thinking, we need to go to Dumbledore," I said to Remus and Lily.

They nodded and we headed strait for the fireplace, arriving in Dumbledore's office moments later.

"Now really is not the time to ask for more favors," Dumbledore said as he looked up to see who had just arrived at his office.

"Professor, you knew there'd be inferi, why didn't you do anything?" I asked immediately.

"Pardon?"

"Harry and I told you when you asked what this war would bring. Why didn't you put up precautions or something?"

"The best precaution I can produce against inferi is stopping people from dying in the first place," Dumbledore replied. The twinkle in his eye was certainly annoying me. "But I thought you three were on that quest,"

"We are," Lily said, looking between Dumbledore and me with an extremely confused expression. "But how did you know?"

"A friend from the future sent a rather detailed letter back to me some eight or nine years ago,"

"The future? Was Harry sent here on purpose? Wait," she paused, her eyes widening. "Keena, you said 'Harry and I told you,'. Are you…?"

"Yes, I am. No, Harry's arrival was an unexpected accident. No, I'm not related to the Potters and yes, Remus, Sirius, James and Mrs. Potter already know." I said quickly. "Did I miss anything?"

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you stop the war from coming? Who are you really and where are you from?"

"Well I was going to tell you eventually. I couldn't stop the war because I can't change my time too drastically. I'm from America and I'm in disguise."

Lily just stared before Remus cleared his throat.

"Professor, you sent her back her so she could stop people from dying?"

"Well, all three of you are doing that; she's the one who had the idea if I'm correct,"

"Keena, why are we really doing this?" Lily asked turning back to me.

"Because I made a promise to a friend and I intend to keep it."

Suddenly there were emerald flames and a head was poking through the fireplace. It was Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Professor, there's another attack! It's those creatures, they're at Potter Mansion!"

* * *

**Bwahahaha! Another cliffy! Please review! Until chapter 5!**

**:-D**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: _Mortasto Incessus_

**Disclaiming. Warning: blood content and violence. Enjoy!**

Last Chapter:

_Suddenly there were emerald flames and a head was poking through the fireplace. It was Kingsley Shacklebolt. _

_"Professor, there's another attack! It's those creatures, they're at Potter Mansion!" _

* * *

The four of us fled back to Potter Mansion via portkey and arrived in my old bedroom. Below us we could hear a raging fight; moans mixed with screams. Remus and Dumbledore ran to the door telling Lily and I to wait a moment. As if. 

Lily and I followed the other two to the staircase, wands out prepared to fight the undead. We could see lights flashing two ways as spells were cast by aurors and Death Eaters, whom had shown up to control the inferi. I watched for a moment as both Nickie and Sirius took on one inferi at the same time. Their spells were useless.

Shaking my head, I pulled Lily back before she tried to follow Dumbledore and Remus.

"This is no good, we need to go back and do some quick research,"

"Are you crazy?" Lily nearly yelled.

"No, we can't defeat them without knowing their weaknesses. It's the only chance we've got,"

Lily looked ready to protest but a blast from behind us shook the house violently and we were forced away from the staircase as it began to crumble. I ran to the ledge to see if anyone had fallen, but I couldn't locate a body amongst the rumble so Lily and I ran back to my room to get out the book.

"What do I look under?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Here, let's try this,"

She flipped to a chapter entitled _Controlling the Living Dead. _

"Look there," I said after she'd flipped a few more pages. "It says they don't like fire,"

"What can we do about that? We'll set the house on fire,"

"The house isn't what I'm worried about,"

"But how do we let the others know?" Lily asked as we ran from the room and I led her to the back staircase.

"They'll have to pick up on it won't they?"

We came out of a kitchen cupboard. I opened the door a crack to see one of the poor beasts up close. Its flesh was an awful tinged gray and green. Its hair was matted and barley colored at all and its eyes were sunken and yellowy. There was hardly any nose left and the lips were rotting off so you could see its teeth. It hunched over as it walked, heading towards something in the other corner of the room.

My eyes followed its path and I shrieked.

Lying in a pool of blood was Mrs. Potter.

I burst out of the cupboard just as the inferi reached her. It reached out with its crippled hand and touched her face. She moaned.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" I screamed, brandishing my wand.

It turned in some sort of surprise and looked at me strangely. Without warning, it lunged onto me, knocking me off my feet. My wand went flying as it pinned me to the ground.

"Knnnh," it groaned. "Knnnhnnahh,"

"_Incendio!" _Lily shouted from somewhere.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see flames erupt from her wand causing the creature to lurch away, moaning more terribly than before. Lily handed me my wand and I rushed over to Mrs. Potter's side.

"Mrs. Potter," I whispered.

"Keena?" she replied dryly.

"What happened?"

"Waited for Nickie and Lexi by the fireplace…Didn't come…Flames…monsters…," she muttered incoherently onward, only speaking one word at a time.

"You'll be alright, Mrs. Potter, Amanda can fix you in no time," I encouraged.

The blasts from the other room stopped suddenly and I looked over in shook at the absence of noise. It was eerily silent.

I exchanged a look with Lily. "Stay with her, I'll see what's going on," I said, standing and heading towards the other room.

The inferi and most of the death eaters had vanished from the house. Scorch marks filled the halls and the staircase was in ruins. I entered the living room to find a terrifying sight.

James was bleeding profusely on the couch, Amanda on the floor. Nickie was shaking in Orion's arms, while Lexi, Remus and Sirius stared with wide eyes along with several other aurors and death eaters alike.

Dumbledore was in the center of the room holding his wand in an offensive position and was talking calmly to a man on the other side of the room. The man was whiter and colder looking than snow, his red eyes gleaming like poisoned rubies. He had very little nose, and his mouth was curved into a fine frown.

"Oh, Tom, what have you done?" Dumbledore asked in a tired voice.

"Done?" the man hissed. "It's not what I have done, Dumbledore, but what I will do. No one will ever defeat me,"

"Then why the fear in your eyes, Tom? The cowardice?" Dumbledore replied coldly.

Voldemort glared silently but had no reply to give.

"What are you doing Tom? What will any of this prove?"

My mind began racing wildly. Didn't Dumbledore already know what Voldemort was trying to do? Wasn't he aware of the already existing horcruxes?

"It will prove that all purebloods and those of noble bloodline are the only ones who deserve justice in this world,"

"Yet you attack a pureblood house. An ancient bloodline in itself,"

"Traitors. Soft hearts. Weak-minded fools. They are unworthy to eat the dirt off the ground. Lower than the lowest mudblood. They haven't even thanked me for bringing back their father," he added with malice.

"What?" I blurted out against my better judgment.

"Surely you've seen your father, stupid girl. He was in the kitchen reuniting with his wife not a moment ago,"

Anger surged through my veins and it was all I could do to keep from firing the first spell, but James took care of that from his position on the couch. He fired the killing curse at Voldemort who dodged and it hit a death eater behind him who fell at once. Before Voldemort could respond, Dumbledore took the opportunity to attack.

It looked like a strange foreign dance as they dodged and fired spells.

Tearing my eyes away from their duel, I noticed some of the death eaters were edging away. I fired a blast of my own, knocking down three of them at once, awakening the attention of the others, another mass fight broke out. Suddenly the inferi reappeared on the scene. I sent incendio after incendio out at them, and the others caught on fast.

The inferi scattered, fleeing the house. The remaining death eaters fled into the night, though many had fallen. At last the fight was reduced to the two duelists who had started.

Voldemort cast a final explosive spell knocking anyone standing in the room off their feet before he himself disappeared into the night, but not before casting the Morsmorde above the house.

Panting, James came over and helped me up, holding his bleeding side as he did so. "Where's mom?" he asked urgently.

Just then Lily ran into the room. "James, Keena, you've got to come quickly,"

I helped James as we ran back to the kitchen.

Mrs. Potter laid coughing and spitting up blood, her head resting on Lily's cloak.

James and I knelt next to her, propping her up slightly so she could cough easier. My eyes immediately filled with tears as Voldemort's words echoed in my ears. "_He was in the kitchen reuniting with his wife not a moment ago_,"

As she stopped coughing, her eyes began falling as if she were suddenly tired. The grip she had had on my hand a moment ago was fading fast.

"Mom, stay with us," James pleaded. "You've got to stay with us,"

"I—I'm proud of you both." She replied.

"Mrs. Potter, don't say things like that, we're just kids. You're not done with us yet," I whispered, tears spilling from my eyes.

"No. You've both done so well. I love y-" she began coughing again, and when she opened her eyes there was little light left in them and her skin was turning waxy. She produced a pained smile before closing her eyes, against James and mine protests.

My eyes burned with fresh tears as I tried desperately to keep her icy hand warm, holding it tightly in mine.

"Let her go," a voice said softly. I looked up to see Dumbledore frowning, his eyes drowning with sadness. But I couldn't.

Gently, someone pried my hands grip and helped me to stand up. It was then I realized I had been kneeling in her blood as it soaked the kitchen floor. I looked at James' tearstained face just before we embraced each other like a sister and brother. I sobbed into his shoulder and he into mine.

We cried well into the morning and by the time St. Mungo's Emergency staff was dispatched to the house the sun had risen.

The healers dragged James and the others who had been injured outside to be healed. I stayed with James as they healed his side and they gave us both a calming drought.

All of the remaining bodies were cleared from the house, as were the bloodstains before any of us were allowed to re-enter. Remus and Sirius had the stairs patched up in a matter of hours with the help of Orion, who had stayed to make sure no one came back to the house. Peter showed up around high noon after reading the latest edition of the prophet and its obituary.

We hosted the funeral two days later, though not nearly as many people showed up as they had for Mr. Potter's funeral. I had a funny feeling they were all in the area…

As people left, I read the gravestone for the first time all day.

_Nathaniel Matthew Potter_

_Born 4 September 1935 _

_Died 8 July 1976_

_And his wife Jaime Potter_

_Born 18 April 1936_

_Died 27 March 1979_

Looking carefully, I noted that the ground under which Mr. Potter had been buried looked freshly dug.

I gazed off into the distance and realized that the graveyard had seemed to double in size since I had last been there. I stared blankly for a moment before following the others out of the cemetery.

* * *

Months passed by and life, it seemed, had returned to normal. Or as normal as it would ever get during the war. Dumbledore had finally formed the Order of the Phoenix and we had all immediately joined in. The headquarters was made into Potter Mansion and meetings were held almost nightly. 

Things were finally taking a turn for the better. Lily, Remus and I had been doing very well with our research. All that was left to do was create an incantation, wand movements and hope for the best. We had realized that to truly kill something you required a fierce hatred of that thing. In turn, if you loved something enough, you should, in theory, be able to give it life. That of course, was the problem. We had nothing that we could truly hate enough to kill, but at the same time love it enough to save it afterward. We had nothing we could test with.

"We've got another problem," Lily announced one day.

"What?" I said, coming out of a muse.

"We don't know how long it would take for the effects of the spell to show."

"Three days," I replied, looking to the ceiling once more.

"Where on earth did you get that from?" Remus asked.

"Church," I said simply. I looked at them to find them staring at me. "What? It's an idea isn't it?"

"You know, she might have a point," Remus said nodding.

"This isn't divine work, it's magic. Plain and simple,"

"Magic is neither of those things and you know it, Lily," I reminded her.

"Okay, so we'll give three days to whatever we decide to test on,"

"If we ever decide," Remus added.

"Point,"

"What's the score?" I asked, grinning.

"I believe it's 211 me, 5 you," Remus replied.

"No, it's 7 for us and 201 you," Lily said, looking at a piece of parchment.

"You keep count?" I asked amused.

"Of course, we need some sort of numerical record in here, or they'd throw us out."

"I hardly expect something like that would count,"

"It's not labeled,"

"Oh,"

I sighed and resumed staring at the ceiling, before taking out a Latin dictionary I had bought at a muggle store and began thumbing through it. We used the dictionary to create our incantations. It was easier to use words already in existence than to have to make up our own completely. Since the killing curse was so old, we figured whatever we could use to create a revival spell would be old as well.

* * *

That night we were the last ones home. The three of us had been arguing over what words could be incorporated into the incantation. Lily had genuinely been arguing. Remus and I, however, were merely forcing her to go on and on. 

Remus and I arrived in the kitchen first. A trail of rose buds was leading to the dining room. Remus smirked and I giggled. We quickly hid as the green flames rose up in the fireplace and Lily stepped out.

"What the bloody hell," she muttered looking at the flowers. She looked around before following them into the other room.

"Hope James is ready," Remus muttered and I nodded.

"He should be; he's been pacing around in there for an hour. Hasn't let anyone else in there since quarter of eleven," Sirius informed us coming from the other side of the kitchen.

"C'mon, I want to see her reaction," Lexi said, heading towards the other room. We followed in suit.

We poked our heads into the dining room to see the normal long table gone, replaced with a small two-seater. Rose petals covered the table in a sort of elegance and three candles of gold were floating above the table giving off a sort of moody light. We arrived just in time to watch as James lowered himself to one knee and open a blue velvet box.

Lily screamed and leapt on him and they began to snog on the spot.

"C'mon guys, let's leave them be," Amanda said, grinning.

We walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"That was so cute," Nickie whined.

"D'you think she was surprised?" Lexi asked.

"She screamed, didn't she?" Sirius laughed.

"That doesn't mean it was a surprise," I said, shaking my head.

"Of course it does,"

"I'm telling you, she was probably expecting it. I'll bet she screamed from the excitement. I mean honestly, he gives her roses every time they celebrate anything. Valentine's day, Christmas, her birthday,"

"Does that mean you'll be expecting it?" Sirius asked me seriously.

"Expecting what?" I said, becoming alarmed.

"Well it's only a matter of time before I get up the nerve," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.

I stayed quiet, but nobody seemed to notice. Nickie, Amanda and Lexi had immediately begun to tell Sirius he was a chicken for not having asked me to marry him already. Remus seemed to stay quiet as well, a look of concern enveloping his face. I exchanged a meaningful look with him and realized he was thinking the same thing I was.

_I'm from the future...no matter what age I appear to be, he's far too much older. I can't marry him...it was wrong for us to go out in the first place...this will not end well..._

* * *

**That's the end of this one! I thought it'd be good to balance off the bad with some good news! Until chapter six!**

**:-D**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Wedding Surprises

**Consider this disclaimed. **

**Obviously James and Lily are getting married! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh my God, Lily, that dress is beautiful!" Lexi squealed. The dress Lily had on was a pale gold satin sleeveless gown that fitted her curves in all the right places. She wore matching gloves that climbed up to just below her elbows and a small golden tiara stuck out amongst her fiery red hair. 

She walked over to a mirror and her jaw dropped.

I turned to Nickie.

"Three, two, one…"

"No, I can't wear this one either!" Lily burst out in frustration.

"What's wrong with this one?" Amanda asked tiredly. We had gone through nearly the entire store. One dress was too frilly, one was too widening, another wasn't the right shade of lilac, and still another was too deep of a green (apparently resembling Slytherin).

"I don't know." Lily sighed, turning to try and get a different perspective in the mirror. "I just don't like it,"

"Oh boy," Nickie muttered shaking her head.

"What am I going to do? The wedding is less than two weeks away!" Lily panicked.

"Lily, you've got a store full of dresses that look gorgeous on you. Stop worrying," I said in attempt to calm her down.

She sighed and returned to the dressing room to put the dress away as we searched for another gown.

"Oh, look at this one," Lexi said, pulling a lovely pale green dress from the rack. It had no sleeves and blossomed out starting from the waist down. Around the waist was and intricate gold design and another one around the bottom rim of the dress.

"She can't possibly complain about this one," Nickie said. "It'll match her eyes wonderfully,"

"Let's hope she can't complain." Amanda rephrased.

We brought the dress over to Lily who eyed it apprehensively.

"We know it's green, but so are your eyes. When did you become so prejudice?" I asked.

"I didn't think James would like a green dress…" Lily muttered.

"Are you crazy? Anything that makes you look good and that you like he'll go for," I reprimanded. "All he cares about is the fact that you don't have a dark mark," I added.

This remark seemed to brighten Lily up and she ran into the changing room once more. We waited five minutes until she came out.

"Well?" she asked nervously.

No one said anything, but Nickie let out a low whistle.

"It's that bad?" Lily asked, her shoulders sagging.

"No, it's wonderful! I mean your eyes are just popping out!" Amanda exclaimed.

"You really think he'll be okay with it?"

"Lily, he's marrying you and your eyes are green," Lexi said rolling her own eyes.

Lily smiled and we went to buy her twenty-galleon dress. No joke, it was a really pretty dress.

* * *

September 30 arrived right on queue. It was a beautiful autumn day, not too hot and not too cold. The reception was to be held in the country in a meadow with a mountainous view. The key people invited were our year of Gryffindors, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Hagrid, Orion (who was still dating Nickie), members of the Order, and a few people from Lily's family. At least those were the people I knew were going to show up. 

Lily's maid of honor was Amanda and Sirius was James' best man.

Lily's mother had taken over bridal arrangements as far as getting her dressed went so that the rest of us could get ourselves ready. Lucky for us our bridesmaid gowns weren't half bad looking. They were pale gold with v-necks and short-sleeves and they went to just above the ground. We were directed to wear our hair in modest looking buns which proved to look interesting for Nickie and I seeing as both of us had dyed hair (the blue from the backfiring spell had never worn off).

We each held a small bouquet of small white tulips with matching white gloves that went half way to our elbows. Finally it was time for the wedding to start.

Lexi went first paired (to her dismay, though she wouldn't show it) with Peter. Next followed Nickie with Orion. We shook it up a little as Sirius and I went down the aisle next, closely followed by Remus and Amanda.

James stood nervously at the alter. He was wearing navy dress robes and an expression showing his desperate want, but inability to smile.

Finally Lily began to walk down the aisle. Her hair was tied back into a pretzel bun and she had slender gold earrings that were just above her chin in length. James' face relaxed and he broke into a true grin as she reached him at the alter.

They said their "I do's" and James was told to kiss the bride. After a solid two minutes, he was told to "stop kissing the bride and let her breath, for God's sake!" James laughed at Sirius who was shaking his head and one of Lily's relatives stepped forward with a muggle camera.

"Lily, you look gorgeous," she said. "I'd like a couple of pictures,"

It was as if she'd said the magic words. Suddenly there was a line of people with cameras waiting for a snapshot.

Flashes went wild and James and Lily looked slightly dazed.

"Let's get one of the sister and brother together!" someone shouted.

Suddenly I found myself being shoved over closer to James and I was placed between him and Sirius, who wrapped his arm around my waist. After what seemed like at least two hours worth of picture taking, we were finally allowed to go over to the food and drink tables.

"Who wants the bouquet?" Lily shouted. The bridesmaids and a few other girls laughed as Lily threw it over her shoulder and it landed two inches behind her. "Um…Let me try that again," Lily blushed.

She threw it over her head and the flowers came flying towards my face.

_Oh no…!_

I caught the flowers just before they hit my face and I stared in shock at the bouquet in my hands.

"Well, we always knew you and Sirius would end up together," Lexi shrugged. "Personally, I'm glad I didn't catch it. Could you imagine marrying Peter?"

"Why would you marry him?" I asked attempting to sound curious instead of disgusted.

"Because I had to walk down the aisle with him,"

"Oh," was all I could say before I found myself being spun around.

"I see you caught the bouquet," Sirius stated, smiling his 'I've got an ingeniously mischievous plan that could get us expelled' smile. "Your thoughts on this are?" he asked when I failed to reply.

"Oh! Look, they're cutting the cake!" Lexi shouted saving me the trouble of answering.

"C'mon," I said excitedly.

* * *

Lily and James left for their two-week honeymoon the next morning. They were going to Tuscany, Italy and staying in a small wizard-owned hotel by the seashore. Sirius would be taking over any of James' shifts that they hadn't had together to begin with and Remus and I would just continue our work minus one full brain. 

We were all still living in Potter Mansion, with the exception of Nickie, who had moved in with Orion the night after James proposed. Lexi moved to share a room with Amanda as Lily and James planned on splitting his parents' old room. The Order of the Phoenix headquarters was moved to Sirius' cousin Andromeda's house.

One night while James and Lily were still gone, I was alone in the kitchen. I hadn't thought it practical for everyone to stay up when it was only Sirius who wasn't home (he had taken one of James' night shifts and decided to get it over with quickly). It was two in the morning when he got home.

"Hey," I said standing up and giving him a small hug. "How was work?"

"It wasn't that bad today, actually," he said smiling.

"It was a good enough day to smile about it?" I asked laughing at the foolish grin he had on his face.

"Yep," he replied, putting his arms around my waist. "And you know what would make it even better?" he asked and he began pulling something out of his pocket.

I stood back as he opened a black velvet case and revealed a silver ring with a well-sized diamond in the shape of a heart in the center and two smaller hearts on either side of it.

"You," he said answering his own question.

I stood silent for a moment, contemplating what to do.

_I'm from the future!_

_How do you know you'll even be at your normal age?_

_Harry said something about me being in detention while he was here._

_So? Maybe you just act that age and you're really just waiting._

_What? That makes no sense!_

…

_So that was completely unhelpful!_

_But…you love him. Don't you?_

_Of course I do! But I can't marry a man old enough to be my father! I'm not even technically born yet!_

_I haven't got a clue. You can't marry him when you put it like that. _

_No I can't. But I—I can't break up either._

_That's not fair to him though, is it?_

…

"Keena?" Sirius asked, my attention snapping back to him. He looked concerned, his smile was fading.

I sighed.

"I know things are hard right now, but they'll get better," Sirius implored. "We'll be able to spend time together and…and…" he trailed off.

"Sirius, I love you. Really, I do, but…"

"But what? All you have to do is say 'yes'. That's it,"

"No, that's not it. I'd be making a promise I can't keep."

"How hard is it to walk down an aisle say 'I do' and live happily ever after?"

"Sirius, I'm not…not…"

"Not ready? I can wait. I'll wait forever,"

"No, I'm not from here. I'm not from the seventies. I'm not even born yet, Sirius. It wouldn't be fair to make you wait for so much longer,"

"So it's our age? They make potions to fix that stuff. I'll…I'll take some and we can be together."

"Sirius, it's not that simple,"

"Yes it is! Keena, don't you see that?"

"I do see it. I see a man who has fallen in love with a girl he knows nothing about. Not even her name." I said, tears growing in my eyes. "I can't put you through that,"

"That's where you're wrong," he said, lifting my chin to meet his eyes. "I see a beautiful girl that I've grown up with. I do know her name, Blacktip. And I know that I love her." He moved in to kiss me, but I turned away.

"I know a girl named Blacktip too, but she's not me," I said as my voice broke. "I'm not Keena and I'm not Kailey. I'm not even sure what I am anymore. How could you love someone who doesn't know their own name?"

Before he could even attempt to answer I brushed past him and went up to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

I cried and cried for a long time. About an hour later I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. They paused in front of my door before moving on down the hall.

I avoided Sirius until Lily and James returned from their trip.

* * *

**So sad I had to break them up. But the series wouldn't work without that happening. Please review! Until Chapter 7!**

**:-D**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Baby Troubles

**Disclaimer. I'm sorry my last chapter was so short! Please let me try and make it up to you all with this one!**

* * *

October and November both flew by in a rush. News of people dying was still daily and we still didn't have a spell to defeat the Killing Curse. As a result, the three of us (being Remus, Lily and I) were often very moody and usually unapproachable. We spent countless hours in our office testing and experimenting spells on inanimate objects we had transfigured into random animals. 

"Let's try flourishing our wands backwards from the Killing Curse," I suggested.

"What in the world could that possibly achieve?" Lily burst out angrily.

"Wow, Lily, PMSing much?" I asked putting my hands up in defense.

"No!" she shouted angrily. Remus snorted. "What was that Remus?"

"Nothing," Remus shot back, a short fuse himself (full moon was less than three days away).

"Don't snap at me!"

"You snapped first!"

"Hello? Guys, we're trying to save lives here! Yelling won't get us anywhere!"

"Nothing else has gotten us anywhere, future girl!"

"Geez Lily, what is your problem?"

"I haven't slept properly in well over a week now and my stomach feels sick and my head is spinning! I think I've a right to be upset!" She nearly screamed.

I blinked then broke into a wide grin.

"What're you so happy about?" Remus snapped at me.

"Well, Rem, since you asked, I've just remembered I'm going to be born this coming May."

Remus stared at me as did Lily, but Remus got the idea first.

"Lily, have you told James you haven't been feeling well?" Remus asked, suddenly polite and normal sounding.

"Why would I bother worrying him even more than he already is?"

"I don't think this would worry him," Remus smiled.

"How awkward would the conversation get if I asked when the last time you two slept together was?" I asked airily.

Lily's eyes widened.

"Oh my God, you don't think I'm—I'm pregnant do you?"

"Do my ears deceive me? Didn't you just mention I was from the future?"

"I am? Oh my God! I've got to go tell James! We have to make sure the baby stays healthy! Oh God, this is so…so…I don't know, but it's not normal!" Lily ran out the door and headed, in what I assumed was, the direction of the Auror Offices.

* * *

That night we all made sure to be home by eleven thirty. James and Sirius had gone out and gotten drinks for the occasion as well as water for Lily. We all stayed up until Amanda insisted it was best for the baby if Lily went to bed early (early being two in the morning). By that time Sirius had gotten drunk and fallen asleep and Nickie was hiccupping as Orion led her out the door. 

"Should we take him up?" James asked Remus.

"I don't know I've never seen him get so pissed before. It might be dangerous to wake him up,"

"Just let him sleep down here," I suggested, carrying dishes over to the sink. "It's the only way to get it out of his system, time you know,"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Keena," James said as Remus said goodnight.

"Talk about how to get sober? James I didn't know you needed to know that stuff,"

"No, not getting sober, I mean the concept of time,"

I stared at him with one eyebrow raised.

"You know he's really messed up right now,"

"He had five fire whiskeys and two shots; I'm amazed that he's not convulsing,"

"That's not what I meant either and you know it. You're just avoiding my questions,"

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Why did you break up with him? He wouldn't even tell me how the conversation started, much less how it ended."

"James, he wants me to marry him." I said, shaking my head.

"So? You two love each other,"

"James, we just can't be together. I'm from the future and he's from here. It wouldn't work. When I get back to my time Dumbledore is going to make me my proper age again and I'll be a third year at Hogwarts, this time for real. I'll be going and I will pick a career that I really want to do."

"What do you mean by that? I thought you liked being in Spell Inventions,"

"I do, with Remus and Lily. It's not going to last forever."

"You're throwing away your love because you want to choose a different career?"

"No of course I'm not! You're not hearing me, James. He is old enough to be my father. No amount of potion is ever going to change that,"

James sighed. "You're right, nothing can change that fact."

"Whatever Sirius and I had is in the past now. I'm not saying I want it to be or that I like it, but it is. It always was for me. What we need to focus on now is keeping you, Lily and the baby safe for as long as possible,"

James nodded and I turned back to finish cleaning the kitchen. I listened as he walked back up the stairs before I turned back to face the table where Sirius still sat, sleeping soundly.

Sighing, I went back to the table and sat down across from Sirius in case he woke up—he would've been too drunk to get up the stairs on his own.

* * *

"Well I suppose that concludes this meeting," Dumbledore said standing and those around the table stood to leave. It was late June and the Order meeting had lasted much shorter than usual and only consisted of Dumbledore explaining that no other members were to be allowed to join this far in the game. He said it was too risky. 

"Miss McIntosh, a word if you please," he called as Remus, Lily and I headed to the door (we had been planning on going back to the office). I nodded and walked over to where Dumbledore stood.

"You wanted to see me sir?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for a new Divination teacher and I think you should meet the applicant with me,"

"Don't you mean applicants?"

"No, only one person applied for the job, so I want to make sure she's familiar to you,"

"When are you meeting her?"

"Tonight,"

"Now?"

"Now,"

"Where?"

"A small pub in Hogsmeade," he said lightly.

"Alright, sir, I'll come," I said nearly laughing at his sudden trust in me.

We apparated to Hogsmeade and stood outside a small, rather dirty looking pub. A sign was swinging above the door with a picture of a boar's head on it.

We entered the pub as a man behind the counter came around to put a closed sign up and locked the door. Dumbledore nodded lightly to the man who ignored him and rushed back around his counter and into a back room. We climbed the staircase and found ourselves on a crowded landing.

"I believe this one is her room," he said, opening the door.

"Ah, Professor, I knew you'd be getting here,"

"I would hope so, seeing as it was a defined appointment," I muttered. I caught Dumbledore's eye, though the woman with over-sized glasses did not seem to hear me.

"Sibyll, I trust you remember Keena," Dumbledore said, giving unnecessary introductions.

"Of course," she said. "I knew you'd be bringing someone from within the ministry to watch the proceedings. An extra presence!" she said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, holding my hand over my heart. I hadn't been expecting her to shout.

"Outside the door!"

I exchanged a look with Dumbledore before checking that no one was behind the door.

"I don't think that there's anyone there," I called from the doorway. "And if there was, I'm sure it was just the landlord," I turned back to face the professor and future professor.

"Sibyll?" Dumbledore asked, for her eyes had been glazed over and she began talking in harsh tones.

My mouth dropped as she began revealing a prophecy.

"_The One with the Power to Vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have Thrice defied him as the Seventh month dies…"_

Suddenly there was a crash from the hallway and I heard yelling. I nodded at Dumbledore before rushing into the hallway to see what all the commotion was.

Sprawled on the floor was Severus Snape, the owner of the pub and hot chocolate.

"You fool! The Dark Lord shall hear of your interference!" Snape spat, not even noticing my presence. I whipped out my wand and aimed it at his throat.

"Surprise, surprise," I muttered, causing Snape to notice me. "Who in the world would've guessed Snivvy would become a Death Eater?"

Snape eyed my wand then did something I hadn't known him capable of doing. He smiled.

"Of all the petty Gryffindors to find me, I'm lucky it was you," he said maliciously. I smiled back at him, putting up several shields around myself and the owner with wordless magic. "Not even a stupid comeback? What has the world come to?"

"You should know, you work for Voldemort," he flinched violently.

"You will pay for that," he growled. "And so will your 'savior', the Dark Lord knows all."

"You told him?" I asked, my eyes flashing. "How much did you tell him?" I screamed. I heard a door open behind me.

"Everything I heard,"

Without hesitation I cursed him. A blast emitted from my wand and Snape went flying into a wall on the other side of the hallway, hitting his head as he went.

Dumbledore rushed out of the room, his eyes ablaze with anger I had never seen before as he laid eyes on Snape's unconscious body. He went over to him and brought him back to consciousness.

The little color that had ever existed in his waxy skin drained quickly as he looked into Dumbledore's furiously piercing gaze.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Dumbledore said in a cold, quiet voice.

"I—I--" words failed him as Dumbledore dared him to answer.

"You are responsible for the death of James and Lily Potter," I said cold venom dripping from my voice. "He deserves to die, Professor," I added.

"L—Lily Potter? Why would she…why would she be killed?" Snape asked, shaking.

"For the sake of her son," I spat.

"Keena," Dumbledore said warningly. "Go back to your home. Tell everyone to leave. Flee. I have no doubt that trouble will be arising soon. I will deal with Severus,"

I nodded before going back into Trelawney's room and flooing back to Potter Mansion.

* * *

I stepped out of the fireplace to find a wand pointed at my face. 

"James! It's me!" I shouted before he lowered his wand and pulled me out. "What's going on?" I asked as a loud blast echoed around the mansion.

"Death Eaters are back again, we've got to fight,"

"No," I said grabbing James before he headed to the door. "We've got to get out of here. It's not safe for you or Lily any more. You need to flee,"

"Why? What happened?"

Before I could answer there was another loud blast and Lily, Amanda, Lexi, Remus and Sirius all ran into the room.

"They'll come through the door any minute now," Lexi said nervously.

"The defenses are failing. Like last time," Remus said, answering the look on my face.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go kick Death Eater arse!" Sirius shouted.

"No," I said firmly. "At least not Lily or James. You two need to leave now."

"But why? Where?" Lily asked, holding her rounded stomach tightly.

"I'll explain later, go to Hogwarts. You'll be safe there. Or go to the Order Headquarters. Don't stay at either place for too long. We'll stay here and cover your escape,"

Lily went into the fireplace first and flooed to Hogwarts, followed closely by James.

There was another loud blast, this one shaking the entire house.

"Quickly, we need to go upstairs and hide everything. No one can know that anyone ever lived here,"

The others nodded and we ran upstairs. I shrunk as many things as I could and threw them all into a trunk which I also shrunk to pocket size. I looked around my room. It was the same as ever, but had no personality to it. There were no pictures left on the walls and no posters. As a final touch I placed a spell on the room that made it look old and abandoned.

Then I ran to Lily and James' room, doing the same to their room, as I had to mine, collecting anything and everything I thought they might miss. Then I turned and cast the same spell as I had done to my room.

Another blast sounded and I ran to the doorway, nearly knocking into Sirius.

"C'mon, everyone else is gone," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the staircase.

Suddenly there was an enormous blast and the defenses crackled and fell.

The front door was blasted open and none other than Lord Voldemort himself stepped over the threshold of Potter Mansion for a second time.

Sirius and I froze before he started walking backwards, holding me behind him as we went as quietly as we could.

"How intriguing," he said to the Death Eaters behind him.

"What is my Lord?" one cold male replied.

"I sense two people in this house, when a moment before I sensed seven."

My breath caught in my throat.

"There my Lord!" the other death eater shouted pointing to where Sirius and I stood, attempting to hide in the shadows.

"Do not kill them, they may know where I can find Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he commanded.

Sirius brought out his wand, but I grabbed his arm as tightly as I could, thinking of the Hog's Head and nothing else. There was a feeling of being compressed that I normally didn't associate with apparition, but this was side-along. Not only that, but it was unwilling side-along.

We landed on the ground in front of the Hog's Head and as we did, the door burst open.

"Quickly, inside," the owner of the pub said in a rough voice.

Without hesitation, Sirius and I ran inside. Before we could even catch our breath, the owner gestured for us to follow him to behind the bar. He led us to a fireplace and handed us each a handful of floo powder.

"Get to Hogwarts, Dumbledore'll be expecting you,"

"Thank you," I said, accepting the floo powder.

A moment later I was in Dumbledore's office and Sirius followed.

"What took you two so long?" James nearly yelled before giving me one of his overly protective brother hugs.

"I had to make sure no one could recognize who lived in what room," I said.

"I doubt that'll matter much, seeing as Voldemort knew we were there," Sirius replied somewhat coldly. "You should've at least let me get one of them," he added.

I just shook my head at his recklessness.

"Professor, what are we going to do?" Lily asked, bringing everyone back to Dumbledore's attention. "Where are we going to live? Nowhere can be safe. No one has ever survived once He decides to kill them,"

"I have spoken to Professor Flitwick and he suggested a Fidelius Charm," Dumbledore answered calmly. "You will need a secret-keeper. They alone will know the location of your house and they alone can access it. If you want others to know the secret-keeper must disclose the location to them. Even Voldemort will be unable to track you down,"

"Sirius, would you?" James asked.

"Of course," Sirius replied.

"This is a very dangerous situation and being the secret-keeper, you should go into hiding yourself, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said, looking over his glasses.

Sirius nodded as did Dumbledore.

"There is a place in Godric's Hollow that I know of. It is vacant and you should be able to live safely there. I'm afraid it will only fit a small family," he added. "But for tonight I think it best for you all to stay in the castle."

We agreed and Dumbledore stood up and took us past several tapestries that I remembered from one night's wandering that seemed ages ago. They led to extra chambers to sleep in and live in. They had once belonged to the Founders and their families. They had lived full time in the castle and raised their families there.

"These were once Gryffindor's chambers. You may come to breakfast in the Great Hall or have a house elf come up and bring you something. I have no doubt, however, that you are fully aware of where the kitchens are. Goodnight," Dumbledore said before leaving us.

I looked around the expansive hall Dumbledore had left us in. Gold and scarlet tapestries with lions and swords decorated the stone hall. Several doorways led to bedrooms and one led to a bathroom. One at the far end of the hall let us into a magnificent living space. Its walls were cream colored and the room was lit by torch and the light coming from an ancient fireplace.

We sat on the couches and I tipped my head back to face the ceiling.

"So is this it? The last time we'll all be living together safely?" Amanda asked. I looked over and saw faint tears in her eyes.

"Well, it's the last time James and Lily will live with us," Lexi suggested. "They've got their own family now. I think I'll move in with my current boyfriend," she added thoughtfully.

"Remus, where are you going to go?" Amanda asked.

"I'll find an apartment," he said, shrugging.

She nodded. "And you two? Will you move in somewhere together?" she asked Sirius and I. I blushed and looked away from her. "Oh, sorry. It's just I'm so used to it being Sirius and Keena or vice versa," she apologized, blushing herself.

"Keena can come and live with me if she wants to," Sirius replied. "Actually, I'd prefer it. I want to know that you're safe," he said to me more than to the others.

I nodded.

"What about you, Amanda?" Remus asked.

"I think I'll take a leaf out of Lexi's book and move in with Damian," she said quietly.

"Who's Damian?" I asked, frowning.

"Damian Bell, you know, Josh Bell's little brother?"

"I remember Josh," Sirius said.

"Yeah, wasn't he Ravenclaw's captain once upon a time?" James asked.

"Yes," Amanda said, nodding.

"So it's all settled then?" Lily asked. "We'll just disappear?"

"What other choice do we have?" I asked.

She didn't answer, but rubbed her stomach unconsciously.

* * *

It all worked out as we had planned. 

Sirius and I moved into a small, muggle owned apartment not too far from Godric's Hollow. It had two bedrooms and was rather small, but it worked, we spent most of our time at Lily and James' house anyway.

Lily could no longer go to the Spell Inventions Division because every time she left the house she was in constant danger, but we took care of that problem. Remus, Lily and I transformed the basement into a replica of our office. We spent a lot of time in the basement.

One afternoon, however, there was a particularly loud bang as a spell exploded a chair we had transfigured into a dog to smithereens.

The after shock caused all three of us to fall to the ground.

"Ow!" Lily shouted.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, scrambling up from the ground to make sure she hadn't been injured. "What's that water from?" he asked, kneeling next to Lily.

"Baby!" I shouted, racing up the stairs to tell James to get towels and tell Sirius to contact Amanda.

* * *

Remus, Sirius, Lexi, Orion, Nickie, Peter and I were all waiting upstairs. 

Sirius was pacing nervously while Remus was constantly checking his watch. Peter was jumping at the smallest noises. Nickie and Lexi were having a quiet conversation and betting on whom the baby was going to look more like. Orion kept ruffling his hair in nervous habit and I was just glued to my seat.

"Remus, stop doing that!" I said finally frustrated.

"She's been down there a long time," he said in defense, lowering his watch arm.

"It's labor, it takes a while," I said, rolling my eyes.

"But how long," Sirius whined. "I wanna see him!"

"What time is it?" I asked, sighing.

"Its 11:57.45 seconds and counting," Remus answered quickly.

"I bet he's born before 12:01," I stated.

Nickie, Orion, Peter and Lexi all laughed, but Sirius and Remus stared at me with wide eyes.

…Two minutes and fifteen seconds later…

James burst through the basement door, a wild gleam in his eye.

"I've got a son!" he shouted.

Nickie, Orion, Peter and Lexi turned to stare at me as Sirius whooped with joy.

* * *

**That's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! Next comes chapter 8!**

**:-D**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: _Desino Letum_

**I disclaim for I do not own Harry Potter.**

* * *

"He's adorable," Lexi cooed when we gathered around Lily's bed. Lily was holding a sleeping baby Harry in her arms. James had carried the two of them up from the basement ten minutes after Amanda had finished cleaning Harry up. It was a good thing to have a medi-witch as one of your closest friends. 

"And he's got black hair, like James," Nickie added. It was true; Harry already had a tuft of jet-black hair like his father. "Therefore, I win the bet," Nickie stated proudly.

It was then little Harry chose to open one bleary eye and begin sniveling.

"Hold on," Lexi said just before handing Nickie her twelve sickles. "His eyes are Lily's eyes! That means we tie!"

"Alright, fine. So you give me six and I give me six and we're even," Nickie said quickly.

"Sounds good," Lexi said handing Nickie six sickles then holding her hand out expectantly. "Hey! That was cheap!"

Nickie just laughed, handing back the six sickles.

"So, you've decided on Harry James Potter?" Amanda asked, writing it down on a medical chart. Lily just smiled adoringly and James nodded. "Great, just sign here and here. St. Mungo's likes to have a record of children born out of the hospital. Okay everybody; mom and baby need a little space. Come back tomorrow when they're both awake," Amanda said, shooing everyone (including James) out of the room.

Peter, Nickie, Orion and Lexi all said their goodnights and went home for the night promising to visit in the afternoon. Amanda gave instruction to James about how often Harry would be sleeping and such. She also mentioned not to worry if he woke up to a baby shrieking in the middle of the night. Then she too left promising to come back in the afternoon as well.

James flopped onto the couch between Sirius and Remus and I took a seat on the rocking chair that had been a baby shower gift from one of Lily's distant relatives.

"What an amazing night," James sighed.

"Must be really exciting," Remus commented. "Listen, James, before I go, I was just wondering if Keena and I can still use your basement as an office. We'll put silencing charms up, of course,"

"No problem, Moony old pal," James answered.

"Great," Remus replied before standing. "Well, I should go. My landlord hates when I come in late,"

That left just Sirius, James and I sitting in the living room.

"Well, since it's just the two of you, I'll ask now," James said, sitting up a little. "Sirius, would you be Harry's godfather?"

Sirius beamed. "Of course! I'll make sure your little Prongsling will receive the proper amount of prank ideas and such!" he accepted at once.

James beamed. "Try to run that one by Lily," he smirked. "And Keena, would you be Harry's godmother?"

I gave James a confused look. "Of course I will but wouldn't Lily rather have Amanda as the godmother?"

James shook his head. "I convinced her I wanted my sister to be the godmother. It's true, but I also wanted to make sure there would be somebody with him at Hogwarts to keep him safe,"

"Brilliant! You'll be able to tell him everything, Keena," Sirius said enthusiastically. "Like about where we hid the Marauder's Map and all those tunnels and where the kitchens are,"

He and James immediately began coming up with ways to teach Harry about Quidditch and pranks, though James only did so half-heartedly.

_He still thinks he's destined to die with Lily and so far it looks like he is…Hmm…what was that incantation we used earlier…Desino Letum? Maybe the blast emitted some sort of magic into Harry making him more or less ready to live than before? That or Harry was just ready to come out and the blast gave the necessary jolt…_

I decided to run my theory by Remus the next day.

"I don't know, Keena, her nine months were up," Remus said gently as though trying not to disappoint me.

"Why don't we drop by the hospital and ask Amanda what she thinks then?"

"But I thought we shouldn't let anyone know what we're up to," Remus accused.

"It's Amanda, Remus."

"Alright, but we've got to make sure we're alone with her,"

"Naturally,"

So we went to St. Mungo's to find Amanda in a state.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now," she said tearily. "We just lost a baby in the birthing department,"

"Oh," I said, frowning hard.

"Yes, the parents are in a horrible state. The Longbottoms are so nice too," she added.

"The Longbottoms?" I asked abruptly.

"Yes, it was a baby boy. They were going to name him Neville, I think,"

I looked at Remus, completely alarmed.

"We've got to go test that theory right now,"

"Why?" Remus asked now alarmed himself. Amanda just looked between us, confused.

"Because I know him,"

Remus' eyes widened and he turned to Amanda telling her to take us to the baby.

She brought us into a big pink and blue room. The scene that met my eyes was terrible. Frank and Alice Longbottom, whom we knew from the Order, were standing over a small bassinet, grieving.

Amanda brought us around to the other side and without a word Remus and I drew our wands causing the other three to gasp. Alice hid her head in Frank's arms.

"You want to try or shall I?" Remus asked.

"I know him better, I should do it," I answered.

Taking a deep breath, I pointed my wand strait at the baby's lifeless body. I made a small gesture with my wand saying "_Desino Lentum," _and a bright white light issued from my wand. It came out as a whispy looking cloud before floating gently over the small infant. The light faded into his body, entering through his mouth and nose. It was nothing like the explosion we had caused back in Godric's Hollow.

We all stared as his body glowed for a moment before returning to the color it had began with, a sickly gray.

"What did you do?" Amanda whispered.

I didn't answer, but kept staring at the small baby hoping desperately that he would start crying any second. But nothing happened. Slowly I reached out to the baby's forearm and felt for a pulse. And I felt one.

"Amanda, do you feel that?" I asked, putting her hand where mine had been.

She held her fingers in place for a moment before whipping out her wand and performing several spells on the baby. She gave a loud bang with her wand and violet sparks went up in the air. Next moment several healers rushed into the room with potions of every sort.

Remus, Frank, Alice and I were asked to wait outside for a moment and we obeyed immediately.

"Frank, what are they doing?" Alice asked hysterically. "Is he going to be alright?"

"I don't know," he replied, holding her in his arms. "What was that spell?"

"We've been doing research with it for years. It's supposed to repeal the effects of the Killing Curse. We're hoping it'll do the same here," Remus replied.

We waited in silence for several minutes before Amanda came out to greet us, an excited expression on her face, carrying a small boy in her arms.

"Alice, Frank, would you like to meet your son?"

Alice stifled a sob and outstretched her arms, taking Neville from Amanda. His big brown eyes looked up at her and he smiled before snuggling close to her and falling fast asleep.

* * *

Remus and I arrived back at Godric's Hollow around eleven in the morning. 

"Oh thank God you're back," Sirius said, handing a crying Harry off to me.

"What's wrong? Where are James and Lily?" I asked, accepting Harry and sitting down in the rocking chair rocking back in forth to sooth Harry.

"Lily is sleeping, James insisted that she rest before company arrived and James is in the bathroom. As soon as he shut the door, Harry started crying and I've never held a baby in my life, much less stopped one from crying!"

"How long have you been holding him for?" I asked, laughing at Sirius' seriousness.

"About ten seconds,"

I shook my head, continuing to rock back and forth with Harry in my arms. The problem was he continued to cry.

"Shh…It's okay, Harry, go to sleep," I cooed.

"Do you smell that?" Remus asked, sniffing the air.

"I'm sure it's just your hyperactive werewolf nose," Sirius said distractedly, watching Harry cry. "Is it normal for babies to cry like that?" he added nervously.

"Yes, but I don't think it's Remus' hyperactive werewolf nose. I think Harry just made his first…y'know…smelly diaper," I said, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"So change it," James said, coming into the living room.

"Do you know how scaring it would be for poor Harry to hear that one of his _classmates_ and one of his closest _friends_ changed a diaper for him? Plus it's his first one. That means it's time for daddy to bond," I said, standing and handing a wailing Harry to James.

"But I don't know how!" James whined.

"Okay, here's what you do," I said, transfiguring a Quidditch magazine into a life-sized doll.

"Hey I haven't read that one!"

"I'll turn it back after!" I said in aggravation. "First, you take the diaper off,"

"No? I never would've guessed!"

"Shove it. Next you take a wipe and cover him up. Boys are known for relieving themselves and then it just gets everywhere. Then you take his legs like this, and hold them up while you wipe. It's simple, really,"

"Okay, I'll just take him up to the changing table and de-stinkify him." James said, carrying Harry upstairs.

"Sirius, Remus, I think you two should go with him. There may come a time when one of you needs to take care of the duty,"

"But you get out of it?" Remus accused.

"How would you feel if Sirius once wiped your bum when you were a baby?" I asked.

"Point taken,"

"And that ups the score," I called after them brightly.

…half an hour later…

I sighed and stood up, heading upstairs to Harry's room. It was painted a soft blue with a dark blue carpet. Inside the room I could hear James, Sirius and Remus all arguing about something. The good news was Harry was no longer crying.

"James, I don't think he's…clean," I heard Remus saying.

"What? Of course he is!" Sirius whispered back.

"I don't know," James said. "What if he's not? He'll get a rash,"

"Well, that's too bad, we're out of wipes," Sirius replied.

"I know, but there has to be something we can do,"

"Why don't we just put baby powder in his diaper now?" Remus suggested.

Laughing, I entered the room. "Run out of wipes did you?" I asked.

"Yeah," James said, gesturing to a bin in the corner.

"James, those wipes look mostly clean to me," I said frowning.

"They're not! Look!" Sirius said pointing to one on top. It barely had a brown speck on it.

I shook my head. "It looks as if you didn't even touch them. You'll never clean him up that way," I sighed and pulled out my wand. "Normally, you want to avoid using magic on him like this, but you three have to get more wipes, so," using a hygienic spell, baby Harry's bottom was cleaned.

"Now put a clean diaper on him, you've ruined the one you were going to use," I said, exiting the room and heading back for the living room.

The three boys came downstairs shortly, followed by Lily a few moments later.

"What was all that commotion?" She asked sitting on the couch in between James and Sirius.

"Changing a diaper is not fun," Sirius replied. "Speaking of which, we need to go out and get wipes," and with that the three boys up and left, handing Harry off to Lily.

"But wasn't that only his first diaper? How many wipes could you possibly have needed?" James didn't answer, just gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek before he and the other two flooed to Diagon Alley.

"Don't worry, they'll figure it out," I said laughing at the confused look on Lily's face. "Listen, Lily, before any one arrives to see Harry, I think we did it. We found the spell to repel the Killing Curse."

"What?" Lily asked, grinning broadly. "When did we do that?"

"Well, technically yesterday. I think the blast must have triggered something, but Remus and I tried the spell again today and I think it worked."

"What did you use it on?"

"Not what, who,"

"You found a person to kill?" Lily asked in alarm.

"No, we went to the hospital to ask Amanda something and she told us that she couldn't talk because Frank and Alice lost their baby and--"

"They lost it?" Lily asked now more alarmed than ever.

"Let me finish," I said, putting my hands up in defense. "Remus and I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to test our theory. Plus, I knew that Neville was going to live because he's in my year at Hogwarts. We had nothing to lose with trying,"

"So how did the spell work?"

"It was easy. I focused hard on Neville, and I remembered one time in our first year when he got the winning points for the house and I just said the spell and flicked my wand a bit and it worked. This white cloud sort of came out and hovered over him before it went inside him. A few moments later he had a pulse. He's fine now,"

"That's great! I'm glad he's okay,"

"Yeah, but you know now we can make sure that everything will stay okay as long as we don't screw around with fate too much,"

Harry hiccupped and began making baby noises. Lily looked at him and smiled warmly.

* * *

"Keena can you take Harry for a second? I think I'm burning something," Lily called from the kitchen. 

It was Christmas Eve or it would be in a few hours. Technically (as both Sirius and James pointed out) it was only the afternoon before Christmas day. James and Lily were having everyone over to celebrate the holiday. I had come over early with Sirius to help them set up. Well, I was helping anyway. Sirius and James had disappeared saying they had some things they needed to pick-up, a.k.a. last minute shopping.

I walked into the kitchen to find Lily, wand out and staring horrified at the stove. She began spraying it in cool water before the smoke started billowing out of the oven. She opened a window and began fanning the smoke out of the room.

"Lily, how high did you have that on?" I asked, taking Harry out of his high chair in case we had to make a quick exit.

"James turned it on," she fumed. "And no wonder, he had it set twice as high as I needed it to be!"

"Well, yeah, then it'd only take half the time," James and Sirius had come back from their last minute shopping spree. My suspicions were confirmed as I saw Sirius sneaking upstairs with some bags.

"James!" Lily shouted in exasperation.

"What? Shouldn't that work?"

"No! Look what happened!" she said gesturing to the smoke that was leaving the kitchen.

"Oh…um…I love you?" he tried weakly.

"How about 'I'm sorry Lily, I shouldn't have tried that seeing as it could've burned down the house along with you and Harry.'?"

"Oh, you're too smart to let the house burn down with everyone still inside," James smiled.

Lily looked ready to counter attack, but Harry let out a small sniffle.

"Oh, is my baby hungry?" Lily asked, turning to the fridge to find a bottle.

"Good boy, remind me to raise your allowance sometime," James whispered, taking Harry from my arms and bringing him back to his high chair.

* * *

**That's the end of Chapter 8! Yay! Okay now get ready for chapter 9! Help it along with some nice (not yelling at me) reviews!**

**:-D**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Together Again

**Disclaiming all of J.K's incredible work!**

* * *

Christmas morning rolled around before any of us had opened our gifts from one another. Harry had been put to bed hours ago and we were continuing a sleepy conversation. 

"Hey, it's Christmas," Lexi muttered pointing to the clock that sat on top of the mantelpiece. "We've got to be at your parents' place in eleven hours," she added to her boyfriend, Jeremy Boot.

"I guess we should be heading out then," he said, pulling himself to his feet then helping Lexi up. "Thanks for having us,"

"Thank you for coming. Have a happy Christmas," said James as Lily nodded sleepily.

"That reminds me," said Orion.

"Reminds you of what?" Nickie asked.

"We're supposed to go over to my sister's place,"

"Please tell me you got Billy, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ron presents," Nickie responded in dead seriousness.

"D'you think they'll like to each have ten sickles and a galleon?" Orion, who had taken out his wallet, asked.

"Orion! No one is open on Christmas!" Nickie admonished while the rest of us burst out laughing.

"That's not true," Sirius piped up. "There're a couple of places in Diagon Alley that are there because people don't remember until the day of,"

"How do you know?" Nickie shot back.

"Because I looked into it when James and I went there yesterday. You see, I forgot to tell Keena that Molly invited us as well. Apparently your sister thinks that James, Lily and Harry's first Christmas should be alone together,"

"You forgot to mention what?" I asked not quite sure I had heard right.

"I think it must be a Black thing to forget about these things," Nickie said to me.

"Probably," I answered, too tired to yell at Sirius just now.

"Well I guess Nickie and I will be going since we've got to get up at eight to make it to Diagon Alley and be at Molly's for ten,"

"Ten? Why so early?"

"I think it's to see if I actually remembered gifts or not. She doesn't exactly trust me with these things," Orion said as the two headed for the fireplace. "Bye! Have a happy Christmas," Orion said as they flooed back to their apartment.

"I think we should head out too," Damian said, poking Amanda to wakefulness. She just nodded sleepily and he carried her to the fireplace as well. "Happy Christmas, guys," they said as they left.

With that it left the Marauders and Lily sitting in the living room.

"Lily, why don't you go get Harry and we'll open his presents before everyone else leaves," James said.

"James it's twelve thirty, I can't wake Harry up right now,"

"Why not?"

"He's a baby, James,"

As if on queue, there was a wail from upstairs.

"Alright, fine, I'll bring him down," Lily muttered heading upstairs to fetch Harry.

She came back down with Harry who was still sniveling a little, but fine other than that. Sirius leapt up and grabbed a present from under the small, decorated tree.

"Here's one for the Prongsling," he said handing the box to Lily who rolled her eyes and smiled at the nickname.

She opened it for Harry, who immediately began playing with the golden ribbon the box had been wrapped up in.

"Trying to get him into Quidditch already?" she asked, laughing at the small mobile of a snitch, quaffle and bludgers zooming around with a miniature of a Quidditch player chasing them around.

"Never too early to start," Sirius stated proudly.

* * *

Sirius and I got back to our apartment around two in the morning. 

"I can't believe you made him that blanket," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Why? Was there something wrong with it?" I asked, slightly frustrated with his tone.

"No, not if you'd like him to grow up a pansy," Sirius replied.

"What? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"It had pink in it!"

"He's a baby! It's not as if he'll have that thing forever! Did you miss the snitch that was racing through it?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did! There was pink!"

"For the love of God, Sirius, it was a scene from above the clouds with a snitch racing threw them, there was an entire rainbow!"

"So you do want him to be a pansy?"

"Sirius, you met him when he was fifteen, did he seem like one to you?"

"That's probably because I had to straiten him out!"

"I didn't know you were so prejudiced! I guess your stupid family did rub off on you!"

Sirius just stared at me, his mouth hanging open slightly. I sighed and looked away from him.

"You really think I turned out like one of them?" he asked, taking a step closer.

"Well, you're just as stubborn," I muttered.

"No, I'm not nearly stubborn enough," he said, now standing directly in front of me.

Before I could say a word he had enveloped me into a kiss. And I didn't stop him.

* * *

We arrived at the Burrow at exactly ten. It looked new and you could still see the magic it had radiating around it, holding the house in place. The barn was freshly painted and the yard was full of young trees. 

"Ready to face the band of red heads?" Sirius asked me, his arm around my waist.

"I'm sure they're not that bad. Orion always over-exaggerates,"

"Yeah, you're probably right. Molly is way too neat and tidy to allow her sons to run amuck the way Orion described,"

Sirius knocked on the door and it sounded as though a stampede had been set off. We heard someone actually run into the door on the other side as well as a frantic "Billy don't push!"

"Perce, I wanted to get the door!" Billy replied.

"But I gotted here first!" Percy wailed.

"But I was born first!"

"No fair!"

The door was eventually opened by a short, redheaded boy with so many freckles he nearly looked tan.

"Hi!" piped up the small child.

"Hello, Charlie, may we come in?"

"You sure you want to? Perce and Billy are already going at it and Fred and George have just made a big mess of the living room and Ron is…well Ron isn't doing much of anything actually,"

"Charlie, stop interviewing Sirius and Keena and let them in," a boy with less freckles said, coming over to the door. "I just want you to know, I was the one who was supposed to let you in because I'm practicing becoming a Gryffindor for next year," he added, puffing his chest out proudly.

"You can't be a Gwiffindor, you push too much," a little on in glasses said sticking his tongue out at Billy.

"And you won't because you whine too much,"

Percy scowled in response but stuck his nose up in the air and headed off to the living room.

"Mum and dad are in the living room, but Uncle Orion and Aunty Nickie aren't here yet. Mum says that Uncle Orion probably forgot to tell Aunty that she had to get us presents and stuff and they're probably searching like mad dogs for stuff to give to us," Charlie informed us.

"Charlie! You're not supposed to tell people what you've eavesdropped in on!" Billy admonished. "You're supposed to keep it a secret and then use it against Mum when she won't give us sweets!"

I smiled and raised an eyebrow while Sirius barked out with laughter.

"Billy, you should tell that one to Moony, I'd like to see what he would have to say," Sirius said, smiling brightly.

"Giving my son horrible ideas for his first year of Hogwarts?" Molly asked, entering the room. She was pregnantly plump again, which led Sirius to ask when the baby was due.

"He's due in August,"

"He? So it's another boy?" I asked in surprise.

"We've given up hope for a girl," Molly answered, nodding.

"I wouldn't give up hope just yet," I smiled.

Molly just shrugged and led us into the living room.

There was a small Christmas tree in the far corner of the room next to a brightly burning fireplace. The floor was covered in wrapping paper and ribbons and various toys as well as the two-year-old twins who were busy wrapping something up with already used paper. Arthur had a receding hairline and was reading the Prophet on the couch when we entered.

"Sirius, Keena, happy Christmas!" he said standing up to shake Sirius' hand.

"It's good to see you, Arthur," Sirius said, nodding.

I looked around the room for a moment and realized that one red head was missing. "Um…Where's Ron?"

Arthur jumped and looked around. "Well he was just here a second ago,"

With that we began a frantic search for the missing baby. Billy, Charlie and Percy looked under and around the Christmas tree while the adults looked in the kitchen and the staircase. It was then I noticed Fred and George had begun throwing wrapping paper carefully into a pile on their search. I smiled and walked over to the twins.

"Boys, what are you wrapping up here?" I asked, taking the layers of paper off, uncovering a sleeping baby Ron.

* * *

The next couple of weeks went by so fast it seemed as though they hadn't happened at all. Everyone seemed excited that Sirius and I had gotten back together with the exception of James who only gave a small smile when Sirius told him. 

A few days later, however, something seemed terribly wrong and I began to understand why James hadn't reacted the way Sirius would've liked.

"Lily? Can I talk to you a moment?" I asked her as she went upstairs to put Harry down for a nap. Sirius and James were in the kitchen attempting to cook something.

"Sure, just talk quietly,"

I followed her up the stairs and watched her put a drowsy Harry in his crib. We walked into the hallway and she closed the door.

"What is it?" she asked, concern was evident in her voice. _Do I look pale…?_

I swallowed hard. "It's just…I was wondering…h-how early can you tell if you're…pre—pre…" I couldn't bring myself to say the word.

Lily's encouraging smile faded quickly into a frown when she realized what I was asking. "About four weeks I think," she whispered. "Have you missed your period?"

I began shaking as I nodded slowly. "B-but that happens sometimes right? It can come…late?"

"I suppose…You should talk to Amanda."

"Lily what am I going to do? How can I be a parent? It would be so unfair! I'd just be disappearing from one existence or the other in twelve years! Everyone would learn my secrets, they'd all know!" I panicked, sinking to the floor with tears springing to my eyes. "And then the baby would be in danger! I just know it!" I added as an afterthought.

"Keena, I'm sure everything will be fine. It always turns out okay in the end," Lily said, kneeling on the floor next to me and giving me a tight hug. "Besides you might not even be pregnant,"

The next week I went to see Amanda. She asked me a few questions before sending me to another healer. She performed a quick spell that hovered over my stomach for a second before it glowed as a bright blue mist.

She smiled at me. "Congratulations, it's a--" before she could finish her sentence I had fallen in a dead faint.

* * *

**So much for breaking them up! I hope you enjoyed and review! Next up is chapter 10!**

**:-D**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Boys, Girls and Dementors

**I disclaim it all! (watch for blood content...like a drop really)**

* * *

"I didn't mean to, James, I swear," I heard Sirius say from the other room. 

"Sirius, she's my sister and Harry's friend and godmother! She's from the future! And if you went over seas you'd find a _baby_ in her place!"

"She's not in the future right now. She's here. It's not as if we meant this to happen. Not as if I meant this to happen. God, this is all my fault! If I hadn't bugged her about the bloody blanket she wouldn't have called me stubborn," Sirius' voice trailed off.

I stayed quiet, pretending to still be asleep.

The healers had revived me and Amanda had called for Sirius. We had come strait to Lily and James' house because it was safer in Amanda's opinion. I had fallen asleep in the spare bedroom after sobbing into Sirius' shoulder for half an hour but I had woken up to here him and James arguing.

I kept my eyes closed for fear of the door being open. I didn't really want to talk to anyone. I would tell Sirius it wasn't his fault later. I would tell him I could've stopped him. I would tell him we wouldn't call the baby a mistake or an accident. I would tell him it would all be all right. And I would hope he would believe me more than I believed myself.

I listened to them walk away, still arguing, before sitting up and bringing my knees to my chest, holding myself curled up in a ball. All sorts of thoughts were buzzing in my head.

_What will everyone say? Will they expect us to be excited? What will Dumbledore think? What's going to happen when we do reach my normal time…? Is it a boy or a girl…? What will we name it?_

My last thought surprised me a little and I immediately began making a mental list of names that I would tell Sirius about later. Whatever we decided to do, the baby had to have a name. A name. It would define the baby forever. That's when I realized just how big this whole thing was. It wasn't going to be all about me or all about Sirius and how it would affect our lives. It was about the baby's life too.

There was a gentle knock at the door and I looked over to see James standing there looking at me with his overly concerned big brother eyes.

"I can't think of one," I said off-handedly.

He gave me a questioning look coming into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. "One what?"

"A name. The most important part of this baby," I replied turning away from him to stare blankly at the foot of the bed. "You can't be mad at Sirius. I could've stopped him," I said quietly.

"I know but I just didn't like seeing you upset and I wanted to blame someone," James replied lamely. "Keena?"

"Yeah?"

"Sirius left,"

My head snapped up to look at James.

"Where did he go?"

"He said he had to take a walk. He wanted to clear his head for a bit. I just wanted to let you know before I went to look for him."

"James, you shouldn't be leaving the house so much anymore," I said, swinging me legs off the bed. "Sirius can handle himself. He'll be back before you know it,"

* * *

Sirius didn't come back. Not for a full day and a half and surprisingly I wasn't panicking. Lily was visibly nervous and constantly went to check on Harry. James kept pacing around the room. Dumbledore had sent out a few members of the Order to look for him but had told James he had to stay with Lily and Harry. 

"James?" he stopped pacing long enough to give me a look that plainly said 'why the bloody hell aren't you hysterical yet?' but then continued to go in circles around the living room. "Well, I'll ask you anyway. Has anyone checked the apartment yet?" thinking how hard I would laugh if they hadn't.

"I would think so," he replied.

"Oh."

"Aren't you scared or anything?"

I shook my head in response.

"Not at all?"

"No,"

"What is wrong with you today?"

"Being from the future has its advantages," I said shrugging. "And I'm pretty certain he's fine,"

"If being from the future had advantages, you wouldn't be pregnant,"

"How do you know? Maybe it's a good thing,"

James just shook his head when there was a loud rumbling outside of the door.

"What was that?" I asked as James went over to investigate. He stood at the door for about two seconds before wrenching it open and shooting outside. I ran over to the doorway to find James dueling with Sirius, who had just barely stepped off a huge motorcycle.

"James! What is your problem?" Sirius shouted as they shot minor spells at one another.

"Disappearing for two bloody days to buy a bugger of a motorcycle? What kind of arse are you exactly? Dumbledore sent a bleeding search party after you! We all thought you were dead!"

"I told you I wanted to go clear my head!"

"So what the hell is with the motorcycle?"

"I was walking by and I saw it and I wanted it! Is that alright with you?"

James stopped firing spells at Sirius to stare. "How far did you walk?"

"I apparated first," Sirius replied. "It took me longer than I expected to get back here that's all,"

I laughed and they both turned to face me. "Dumbledore is going to have your head," I smiled.

"Why settle for just the head?"

I turned around to see Dumbledore walking through the Potter's living room and over to the doorway where I was standing. I stopped smiling at the grim expression I was given from the headmaster and I was instantly reminded that I was only going to be a thirteen year old when I returned to my time.

* * *

Dumbledore held a conversation with Sirius in private and by the time they came back (for they had gone to Hogwarts to discuss whatever they had discussed) Sirius was a ball of fury and Dumbledore seemed more worried than when he had left. Sirius didn't say a word but walked out from the fireplace strait past James, Lily and I and out the door. From outside we heard a loud crack signifying a careless apparation followed in quick succession by another one. Sirius poked his head inside the door for a moment to tell me he'd see me at home before apparating away once more. 

James frowned, Lily's eyes widened, and I arched an eyebrow.

"What did you say to him?" I asked causing all eyes to turn to the headmaster.

"That is--"

"Lemme guess, a matter between yourself and Sirius? Sir, seriously, do you really think he won't rant?" I asked. "I'd rather have both parties' versions personally,"

"I asked him where he went exactly and he supposed that I thought that he was in the company of Voldemort," Dumbledore answered after a moment. "I thought it odd that he jump to a conclusion such as that so quickly, so I questioned him a little more,"

"And when you realized you were mistaken and you apologized?" James guessed.

Dumbledore didn't say anything for a minute. "We must consider all the possibilities."

"Get out," James commanded. "When you accuse Sirius, you accuse all of us. He is the most loyal friend—no brother, that I have and ever will have. Nothing will ever change that,"

The professor heaved a heavy sigh before departing back through the fireplace. Just before he went he said, "James you know as well as I do the risks you are taking," then he left.

At those words, James paled and faced me for a moment before shaking his head and going slowly up the stairs.

* * *

Being five months pregnant was no picnic. My stomach had nearly doubled in size outward and it was harder to walk through crowds, not that I did that often. My wardrobe had changed completely and so had my eating habits. I craved random foods at random times in the day and most of the time they were strange combinations, though one night I needed Mexican food and I made Sirius get up and help me find a place that was open. 

It had taken a while (and a few minor arguments) but we had chosen two names for the baby, one for each gender. We had decided on Aradia if we had a girl and Damian if it was a boy. Sirius had picked the boy's name and I the girl's name. It finally seemed as though everything was going to turn out to be all right.

It was late April now and I had woken up to an empty apartment. Sirius had left a short note on the counter reading that there had been an attack on a muggle street and Death Eaters were raiding the apartments and homes. It wasn't an unusual event so I left the note on the counter and went to get dressed. It had been decided long ago that I would go to James and Lily's house if Sirius wasn't home. He didn't want me staying alone in case something happened.

I finished getting dressed and was about to apparate when a loud bang erupted from one of the lower floors of the apartment building. The explosion shook the building violently and I fell to the ground along with several items that had previously been on a dresser or shelf. Suddenly I heard screams coming from below.

I rushed to a window to see cloaked and hooded creatures gliding along the streets mixed in with Death Eaters running, pointing their wands in the directions they wanted the dementors to go. I slammed the window shut as I felt a rush of cold air blow in threw it.

I tried to apparate but I couldn't. The Death Eaters had set up barriers so that no one could escape. My heart began to beat faster and I tried to apparate again but to no avail. Suddenly the screams seemed much closer and I gasped as cold air flooded the room. I thought I heard another bang but next moment I saw Mrs. Potter laying in her own pool of blood and the inferi of Mr. Potter standing over her.

I brought my hands to my eyes, trying to make the memories go away. I tried to think of a happy time, but Mr. and Mrs. Potter kept reappearing. Suddenly there was another loud bang and I looked up to see a seven-foot monster gliding in towards me, its cold, gray hand reaching out from under the sleeves of its cloak.

I took a step back only to trip over a book that had fallen to the floor. I landed on my back and hit my head on the side of the bed. I gasped out in pain and the cold seemed to deepen.

The dementor continued to come closer. Floating over me, it slowly reached up and began lowering its hood.

* * *

**CLIFFY! So mean! Only one way to see what happens next! Until chapter 11!**

**:-D**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Aradia

**sigh...still not the owner of the HP series...darnit...**

* * *

I was amazed I was still able to look up at the horrifying beast in front of me. Its hood was now completely lowered as it hovered above me. Skin was stretched over where the dementor's eyes should have been. It had no nose or ears to speak of, just a mouth. A round hole sucking in a rattling breath and letting out bone chilling air. I tried one last time to apparate but was unable to. I cowered in fear, drowning in every moment of misery I had ever lived through. 

_One happy thought…no…not Mrs. Potter…happy…be happy for the baby!_

I couldn't feel any warmth around me, though. I was shivering and still a happy thought would not occur.

The dementor was closer now. I moved my hands defensively over my stomach as if that would protect the life inside of me. It began stretching out its own hands and I couldn't get away. Its clammy hands pried mine away from my stomach and it opened its mouth wide.

All I could do was scream as a small ball of white light rose from out of my stomach. I tried desperately to move away from the dementor, kicking my legs and trying to pry my hands away, but the harder I tried, the faster my unborn baby's soul moved towards the dementor's mouth. I watched in horror as it sucked in the soul before the light completely disappeared.

Suddenly the door was banged open and a silver patronus bounded into the room, chasing the dementor away from me. Sirius ran into the room and knelt next to me.

"Keena?" he asked uncertainly. He thought I'd been kissed, I could tell by his tone of voice. I couldn't find any words to say so I just kept my mouth shut tightly. "C'mon, I'll get you to James and Lily's. You'll be alright," he said, trying not to panic, mistaking my reasoning for silence.

We flooed to their house and Sirius shouted to James for help. They carried me to the spare bedroom and Lily ran to get in touch with Amanda, though she was most likely swamped at the moment.

"Sirius, what happened?" James asked, staring at me with concern. I hadn't said a word, but was staring blankly at a wall.

"I—I think it…kissed her," Sirius answered, trembling and putting his hands on top of mine.

"No," I said suddenly. "It didn't. It didn't kiss me…not me…" I started sobbing into Sirius' shocked arms.

"Sh…It's okay, you're alright, you're both safe," Sirius replied, only causing me to sob harder.

"No! You don't understand! It didn't want me! Sirius, it took the baby!" I yelled. Sirius didn't reply, only gave me a fierce hug. "It's not right! This just isn't right!" I continued, a pool of tears staining Sirius' shirt as he continued to hug me.

I closed my eyes, still crying, I felt Sirius shaking next to me, and I listened as he began to cry with me.

* * *

Amanda arrived a short while later and James quickly explained what I had said had happened. She had Sirius take me to St. Mungo's where they gave me a sleeping potion so that they could take care of the baby. 

When I woke up Sirius was sitting next to me, holding my hand tightly. I looked down to see myself looking thin again. It looked as though I had never been pregnant.

Amanda came into the room, her own face tearstained. "Remus tried your spell," she said quietly. "He said he couldn't understand why it wasn't working and neither could I nor could Madame Pomfrey when we asked her. Dumbledore explained it though. He said a ch—child without a soul most likely cannot be brought into life…I'm sorry. It would have been a—a girl,"

I couldn't say anything, but I felt Sirius tighten his grip on my hand as silent tears poured down my face once more.

We held a small memorial and buried the baby near the Potter's grave. There wasn't much of a service, really. It was only members of the Order who showed up. I didn't say a word the whole time, and Sirius would only nod or shake his head in response to questions.

_Aradia K. M. Black_

_April 17__th__ 1981_

Was all her gravestone read.

* * *

Things only seemed to go downhill from there. 

Dumbledore had told James and Lily in late June that they were no longer to leave the house for safety's sake. To ensure they wouldn't go anywhere, Dumbledore took James' invisibility cloak to 'take away the temptation'.

Sirius was constantly being sent on secret missions with different members of the Order at different times. Lily, Remus and I would spend time in the basement discussing what laws should be made for the use and knowledge of what we had named the Revival Spell. We weren't even sure if we would be able to publish the work for fear that the wrong side used it. When I had brought this point up, however, Remus had shot out that the dark side of magic knew the way to kill.

One night Sirius came home to tell me that his parents had been found dead.

"Keena, I've uh…I have to move into the House of Black," he said, shifting uncomfortably.

"You hate that place," I replied, confused.

"I know I do, but if I don't claim some sort of ownership to it the House passes on to the next of blood."

"What kind of claim?"

"Not much, really, just stay there for a night and leave a few possessions that I feel strongly about in my room and the house is legally mine. Not that I want it,"

"Why don't you give it to Regulus?"

"That's the other thing," Sirius answered shifting once more. "They think he's dead, but they can't find his body…Do you have any, er, ideas?"

"Yes…But I don't know where his body would be," I replied.

"Oh…" Sirius nodded. "There's something else too,"

"What?"

"Dumbledore is sending me on an undercover mission. I don't know how long I'll be gone for or where I'll be staying."

"When?"

"I claim the house tomorrow morning then I'll be disappearing for awhile." I frowned. "I know it's sudden, but I'll be back before you know it," he said, trying to reassure me.

I nodded. What choice did I have? I couldn't tell him not to go. He kissed my forehead and said goodnight.

* * *

I decided to go and see The House of Black with Sirius the next day. He had had so many bad memories in there that I didn't want him to go in all alone. We went up the steps and Sirius sighed as he opened the door. Immediately the room was full of shrieks. 

"YOU! YOU DARE ENTER THIS HOUSE AFTER ALL YOU HAVE DONE? GET OUT! FILTH FROM MY FLESH HOW COULD I HAVE BORE YOU AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME!"

"Meet my mother," Sirius said dryly, walking over to the screeching portrait and closing satin curtains shut over it.

The house was well taken care of and (with the exception of the portraits) it didn't look like a bad place to live in.

"C'mon, I'll show you to my sanctuary," he said leading me up the stairs.

We walked past the bedroom that we had found Sirius and Regulus' trunks in so many summers ago and I became confused.

"Your bedroom wasn't your sanctuary?"

"What that room? No, that's where my parents made us stay while they 'improved' our rooms that summer. I'm sure Regulus' was everything he wanted. I just wonder how much damage they did to mine,"

We headed up a few more stairs before coming in front of a door that was dead-bolted with several chains. Sirius smirked to himself before blasting them away and opening the door.

"Talk about being Gryffindor," I remarked.

Every bit of wall that wasn't covered by posters was either scarlet or gold. A giant banner of a lion that had gone missing from Gryffindor Tower in our third year was hanging on the wall along with several posters of muggle girls. There were only two moving pictures. One was of Sirius, James, Remus and Peter all laughing and hanging onto each other for support and one of Sirius and me sitting under a beech tree.

"My parents hated this room," Sirius said, standing in front of a window. "Bet they burned me off the tree," he added.

"Is that really such a bad thing?"

He turned around to face me blankly for a moment before smiling. "Hell no! It's a great thing!" he came over to me and pulled me into a hug. "I was just thinking how much I'll miss you,"

"I'll miss you too, but you'll be back in no time." I stated.

"There is something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now," he said his voice suddenly serious. "Back in April when Amanda mentioned a spell they tried on…Aradia she said that it didn't work. That it didn't bring her to life and that Remus was in on it,"

"He is." I said quietly.

"So this spell…brings people to life?"

"Apparently only under special circumstances," I answered bitterly.

"Is that what you three did in Spell Inventions? Create a spell to bring the dead back to the living? Why?"

"It took us so long. We'd been working on it since sixth year," I answered avoiding as many questions as I could.

"After Harry left," Sirius stated.

"I guess so,"

"You're using me,"

"What?"

"You're using me so that I won't betray James and Lily. That's why you got sent back isn't it? To make it so I'd be preoccupied. How could you do that to me? How could you think I'd betray them?"

"I never--"

"Don't even try to get out of this one. You tried to break it off because you thought you couldn't handle it. Well if you can't trust me I guess there's no reason for me to trust you. Just go to Lily and James, I'm sure they'll still accept you even if you are a liar,"

"Sirius--"

"No! Now just go!" he yelled so suddenly I jumped. His charming face that was always so warm and playful had turned hateful and cold. I backed away before apparating from the House of Black to Godric's Hollow.

I didn't cry nor did I go to Lily and James' house. Instead I walked along the street before coming to the cemetery. I entered and walked amongst the graves until I came upon Aradia's. I stared at it for a moment trying to figure out what had just happened. Why had Sirius said all of that? It wasn't like him to be suspicious. None of what he'd said had made any sense.

I reached out and touched the marble of Aradia's grave. It was cool despite the warm weather. I sighed, conjured a small teddy bear from my wand, and laid it next to her grave before walking away.

* * *

July had flown by and before anybody knew it, little Harry was a year old. Sirius was still on his mission for Dumbledore but had sent a small toy broom for Harry to fly around on. Peter and Remus stopped by in person each giving him a small present of a snitch to chew on and a picture book respectively. I gave Harry a small, scarlet pedant with a gold chain that held protective spells in it and (unknown to anyone else) only Harry, Lily, James or I could ever take it off of him. Lily didn't know I had placed protective spells over it, however, though I suspected James had some idea. 

Lily and I (after chasing James out of the room at least seven times) managed to make a nice looking (and tasting) cake that read '_Happy 1__st__ Birthday Harry!' _in blue icing. Both Peter and Harry ended up with blue faces in the end and Lily took several pictures. She also took pictures of Harry trying out his first broom.

James had barely set him on it and let go, not expecting Harry to immediately begin zooming around the room crashing into the couch several times before destroying an awful looking lamp.

"At least we know he's got good taste," I said laughing as Lily cleaned up the glass pieces.

"Yes and we also know he doesn't like cats," Lily said, lifting their kitten off the ground as she raced away from Harry who was giggling in a slightly evil manor as the cat tried to get away.

"Lily, we've got the next Potter seeker! He's going to be undefeatable!" James yelled triumphantly as he ran around chasing Harry who was still racing around the floor. "He's defiantly got my talent!"

"Hopefully he's got my brains," Lily added in an undertone to me as James had run into the coffee table Harry had just flown underneath.

"Not your brains, you're ability to suck up to authority figures," James corrected.

Lily stuck out her tongue at James before throwing a piece of wrapping paper at him.

* * *

"Remus can I talk to you for a second?" the Order meeting had just been dismissed and it was now late September. I was getting antsy. Sirius hadn't been in contact with anyone for a while because he was undercover and Peter had been disappearing often as well. Not to mention Halloween was only a month away. 

"Keena, I'm sure Sirius is fine," Remus replied.

"I know Remus, I'm just nervous right now…" I answered. "I was just wondering if you thought the Revival spell would take longer on adults or if it might not work at all,"

"It should probably take longer if anything…" he answered evenly. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" I hissed, pulling him into a corner of the room. "Don't you remember why we came up with the whole thing?"

"Of course! What I meant was is it going to happen soon?"

I gulped. "I just hope Sirius comes home soon…"

"Is Sirius in danger? Are they going to force him to tell?" Remus asked, slightly panicky now.

"No, I just…I just want him home."

I could tell by the look on his face that Remus didn't fully believe me.

* * *

**There that's the end of this chapter! I know it was kind of fast considering the events I covered but I'm trying! Please review! Next up is Chapter 12!**

**:-D **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Scars and Dreams

**Disclaim.**

* * *

It was the week before Halloween. Just a few more nights remained and then it was time to see if the Revival Spell really did work. Sirius was still gone, though Dumbledore hinted that he may be back in a few days time. I had become incredibly jumpy and my change in behavior hadn't gone by unnoticed by James nor Remus. If Lily realized anything she chose to ignore the fact and probably decided it was due to Sirius' absence. 

There was an Order meeting the night of the twenty-fifth. This one required the presence of all members, including James and Lily. We left baby Harry with Bathilda Bagshot (a neighbor of the Potters) and headed off to the headquarters. We were the last four to arrive (Remus had been over when we had gotten the message) though no one seemed to notice. There was an argument going on at the front of the room.

"Dumbledore, you can't be serious!" Orion nearly shouted red enough to rival his hair, and other shouts of agreement with Orion could be heard. "You said no more members this late in the game and yet you trust him? He's one of them!"

I followed where Orion's finger pointed and it was all I could do to keep myself from taking my wand out and blasting Snape to shreds.

"Mr. Black, please, let me explain," Dumbledore began, holding a hand up to silence the protests. "Professor Snape--" at the mention of 'professor' there were many more uproars.

"He's teaching?" James roared. "Dumbledore, I'm sorry, but I don't think Harry will be attending if he's there!"

"Mr. Potter, please, calm yourself and let me explain,"

"Yes, James, I want to hear what kind of crap Snivvy fed to the headmaster to gain his trust," I said quietly and maliciously, glaring at Snape. Snape didn't glare back, however. He seemed oblivious to the fact that there were so many people glaring at him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his hair curtaining over his face, hiding his eyes from view.

"Professor Snape will be teaching Potions at Hogwarts. He has seen the error of his ways and has decided to turn spy for us. I trust Severus and all of you would do well to respect and trust him as well," Dumbledore spoke quietly but every syllable held intensity.

"So we're supposed to accept your trust in him just like that? After all he's done?" James asked, glaring between the headmaster and newly appointed professor.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "Now that that is out of the way, we're welcoming back two of our members from undercover missions tonight. I expect them to arrive any moment now. But before they get here I'd like you all to know that many things did not go as planned. There were several backfires in the plan and I'd ask you all not to badger them tonight during the meeting. They will present their information and when they are done we will consider the meeting finished. Ah, here they are,"

All eyes turned to the back of the room as the door opened.

Sirius walked in first, his blue-gray eyes swept the room quickly as he entered at a brisk pace but he stopped the moment his eyes landed on Snape. In fact he stopped so quickly that Kingsley (the other wizard who'd been sent on the mission) walked directly into him, nearly knocking the pair of them to the ground.

"Professor--?"

"I see you too remember your former classmate." Dumbledore said with a hint of agitation evident in his voice. "Please share with us your findings,"

Sirius frowned, but Kingsley nodded and proceeded to tell us everything they had learned from Voldemort.

"The death eaters are, as we know, controlling the Azkaban guards; however their hold is slipping as it is with the giants. The dementors as well as the giants seem to be in the agreement that You-Know-Who is incapable of giving them what they want in the amount of time they want it in. We have spoken to a few giants and they have agreed to come over to our side if their desires are not filled within the end of the month." Kingsley's strong voice was cracking a little but other than that he sounded normal, though his eyes were switching from Snape to Dumbledore from time to time.

A few smiles flitted through the crowd at the news that some of the giants may be considering joining the light, however when Sirius began talking any hint of a smile turned to a frown.

"The dementors are beginning to refuse any sort of agreement or control." Sirius' voice sounded hoarse and strained. "They have gotten a taste for freedom and they like it. Many of the ones that were never allowed to perform the kiss before have been doing so at a high level, not caring whose soul it is that they take. I know that doesn't make much sense; you'd think they wouldn't care whose soul it was they took but apparently it does matter,"

At the mention of how specific a dementor wanted a soul to be I let out an involuntary gasp and immediately covered my mouth to prevent any more sounds from escaping as Sirius continued.

"Our resources have told us that a dementor prefers a soul that has experienced extreme happiness and sadness, not just one or the other. Sometimes they'll just kiss someone who was close to another person just to give that other person the extreme sadness they desire to control a person." I saw his eyes flit towards me and I understood what he was saying; he thought I was still in danger.

"Where did you acquire all of this information?" asked a gruff wizard wielding an electric blue eye.

"Impersonating death eaters, sir," Kingsley supplied. "But we spoke to the giants ourselves. It took us awhile to find any and even longer to talk to them,"

Mad-eye nodded his approval before Dumbledore stood once more.

"I'd like to ask you all to ponder on the situation involving the dementors and how we may possibly overcome it without furthering this fight to a three-way war." Dumbledore said, looking around the room. "I shall announce the next meeting in a few days or so. Have a safe trip home,"

The five of us went back to Lily and James' house. When asked, Peter replied that he was going to go strait to his mother's house (as usual) before he apparated away. We arrived at the Potter's to find Bathilda snoring loudly on the couch and Harry sleeping on the floor hugging his broom to him and sucking his thumb. Lily smiled adoringly before scooping him up and carrying him to his bedroom while James and Remus moved to wake Bathilda.

She woke up babbling about how Quidditch was fouling the mind these days before saying a quick goodnight and leaving. I often wondered if she was crazy then I remembered she was friends with Dumbledore.

Finally we were all sitting in the living room and we began to ask Sirius how his trip was. He kept his face half hidden in the shadows from the fireplace the entire time.

"Our original intent was to get all the giants and at least some of the dementors on our side as well as getting a few names of the death eaters," he began, his voice still hoarse and cracked sounding. "We got no names, maybe ten or fifteen giants and the only dementor we ran into attacked us. Violently," he added.

"What did it do?" Remus asked.

"What does any other dementor try to do these days?" Sirius asked in response. "It came out of nowhere and by the time Kingsley or I had realized it was there it was too late to take out our wands. It was huge,"

"How did you get away?" James asked.

"Kingsley managed to get himself together and grab his wand. He blasted his patronus at it and it fled," he answered quietly.

No one said anything for a few minutes and all that could be heard was the gentle crackling of the fire. I glanced up at Sirius in time to see him looking away from me.

"Sirius, what happened to your face?" I asked suddenly causing Lily to give a little jump.

"It's nothing," he muttered.

James and Remus quickly stood up and forced Sirius to turn around so that his face hit the firelight. Lily and I both gasped. A huge bruise covered nearly the entire right side of his face, a thick scar running through the middle of it.

"What happened?" Lily asked again.

"I'm fine,"

"That's good to know, but where did that come from?" I asked, getting slightly frustrated at his stubbornness.

"The bruise is from a giant," he responded slightly coldly.

"And the scar?" Remus questioned.

"The death eaters aren't as stupid as we would like," he answered shortly.

"They caught you?" James asked in disbelief.

"Yes,"

* * *

James and I were sitting in the living room talking while Lily had gone up to sooth a crying Harry. Suddenly the door began to creak open. 

"Oh my God," I whispered.

"Quick, go upstairs and tell Lily to take Harry and run!" James said urgently. "I'll hold him off!"

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could only to hear a yell from behind me. I looked and saw James lying dead on the ground. I couldn't even scream, I just kept running.

"Lily! Take Harry and go!"

"What? Why?"

I looked at her as if she were insane.

"Voldemort is downstairs! Just get Harry and go! Go to Hogwarts or something!"

Lily wasn't looking at me. She was staring at something behind me.

"Give me the boy," whispered a cool voice. It was as if he hadn't even realized I was there.

"No," Lily whispered and her eyes began watering.

"You stupid girl move!"

"Take me instead! Please!" Lily screamed.

Voldemort didn't need telling twice. He raised his wand and let out a flash of green light. Lily and I screamed at the same time as she fell to the floor. Harry began crying and I ran over to him, covering him as if I could protect him. Voldemort laughed.

He raised his wand and pointed at me. It let out a blast and I screamed as I flew through the air. Suddenly there was another green explosion and I looked over to see Harry lying dead on the floor, Aradia lying next to him…

"Keena!"

I gasped as my eyes snapped open. James was standing over me, shaking me so that I would wake up. I began shaking as I watched Lily enter the room holding a sniveling Harry.

"Keena, are you alright?" James asked watching me carefully.

"It was a dream," I answered. "A nightmare," I laughed shakily.

"You were screaming. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," I answered quickly. "No," I whispered it this time.

I looked out the window to see sunlight streaming through. I had stayed with James and Lily because Sirius had begun living at the House of Black, unannounced to anyone other than James or me. He was constantly being called into the office and apparently my safety still concerned him somewhat. I wasn't sure if he still thought I was a liar or not.

"Why don't you come downstairs?" Lily asked. "James was going to attempt to help me carve pumpkins for the Weasleys as a surprise. I don't quite trust him with all the knives,"

"Pumpkins?" I asked, still thinking about what I had seen in my dream.

"Well we can't celebrate Halloween without pumpkins!"

"H—Halloween?"

"Yes! October 31st, remember?"

* * *

**I think this a good stopping point. I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave me a nice long, juicy reviewed! Maybe not juicy…might ruin my computer… Until Chapter 13!**

**:-D**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: 31 is 13 Backwards

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The day went by much faster than I would've liked. Before I knew it the sun was setting. Remus, Lily and I took over pumpkin carving while James, Sirius and Peter took Harry to play in the backyard on his broom. 

"Lily, can we please do this with magic?" Remus had finally resorted to begging. Lily had insisted we carve the pumpkins muggle style. As a result the kitchen smelled like raw pumpkin and there were puddles of pumpkin gunk all over the floor. Remus had actually cut his finger with the knife several times.

"Lily, I think Remus is right. It'd make sense to do maybe three pumpkins without magic but six? I mean we're lucky Bill is at Hogwarts or we'd still have another four to go!"

"Fine! Give up! That's how we came up with all those protective spells,"

"Lily this is nothing like work," Remus said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, it's harder!"

"You sound like a spoiled pureblood saying that," Lily said laughing.

"I don't care, muggle or witch my hands hurt from trying to hold the stupid design in place," I retorted jokingly.

Lily shook her head before taking out her wand and performing a quick spell on the last three pumpkins.

"Great, I'll take these over. Keena, want to come?" Remus said.

"Sure,"

Remus and I apparated over to the Burrow as Fred and George had decided to name it with the jack-o-lanterns in tow.

"Oh, these are wonderful!" Arthur said excitedly. "Look, Molly, muggle designs! Did you do them by hand?"

"Half of them," Remus replied. "It took longer than we'd expected it to though,"

"Why don't you both stay and have some dinner with us?" Molly suggested as she brought a baby Ginny to the table and put her in her highchair.

"Sorry, Molly, maybe another time," I answered.

"Well, alright, but feel free to stop by any time,"

"Thanks," we replied.

Remus and I walked away from the house a little bit so that we wouldn't disturb the neighbors as we apparated away.

"I think I'm going to my parents' house tonight," Remus said before we left. His apartment owner (who had been a wizard this time) had found out about his furry little problem and evicted him on the spot. "I'll stop by tomorrow," he added.

I nodded and said goodnight before apparating away.

* * *

I landed hard on the ground in front of Bathilda's house. 

_What the hell…? That shouldn't have happened…_

I stood up and looked down the street. There was nothing there. No house, no yard, just a bunch of trees flooding where the Potter's house should've been.

_Oh no…they switched secret keepers…!_

I ran over to where their house should have been, biting my lip trying to figure out what to do. Out of nowhere it seemed Sirius and Peter came out of the trees.

"What happened? Where's the house?"

Peter looked around cautiously before whispering the address in my ear. Suddenly, the trees disappeared and the house was back where it always had been. My jaw dropped slightly.

"Keena, I'm going to leave. Everyone knows that I'm the Secret Keeper so the Death Eaters will be chasing after me. Stay with Lily and James." Without another word Sirius left.

I looked at Peter who wiped off a smile just before saying goodbye and apparating away. I screamed in agitation and punched the air where Peter had been moments ago. Without another thought, I ran inside the house.

"Keena, was that you who screamed?" James asked, greeting me at the door with his wand.

"Yeah, where are Lily and Harry?"

"Lily is putting Harry to bed. Are you all right? You look—"

He didn't finish his sentence. His eyes were glued to the window. I wheeled around to see the edges of a cloak heading for the front door. Without a word, James grabbed me and threw me towards the stairs.

"Tell Lily to take Harry and run!" he shouted. "I'll hold him off!"

As I ran up the stairs I heard the door blast open. I heard a few more blasts as I neared Harry's door before a shout of "_Avada Kedavra_!" I knew James was dead.

I burst through the door to find Lily shaking, her wand out, standing in front of Harry's crib protectively.

"Apparate away!" I shouted as I heard footsteps climb the stairs.

Lily shook her head. "I can't, he's put up barriers! Where is James?"

"I had the pleasure of disposing of him myself." I wheeled around to find myself face to face with the ghastly white mask that was Voldemort. His cold, red eyes glittered with excitement that seemed to be feeding off of fear, like a human dementor. "So you are the girl who has come to save the past?"

My breath caught in my throat and I could feel my face paling.

"Not everyone knows this; however, dementors have the ability to perform legilimens on their victims. Lucky for you this one decided you should be kept around. I will deal with you later," before I could move to defend myself, Voldemort cast invisible ropes and cords, binding me and I fell to the ground.

"Now," he said, pointing his wand at Lily. "Out of my way,"

"No!" she screamed.

"Stand aside, you stupid girl!"

"No, not Harry! Please, take me! Take me in his place!" Tears had begun rolling down Lily's pale face.

"Move!"

"No!"

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

Lily and I screamed as she fell to the floor. Her eyes turned cold and lifeless.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched him turn his wand towards Harry.

"Consider yourself lucky. You shall be the soul witness to my ultimate rise to power," he whispered. "A mere child…" he muttered, shaking his head and laughing so coldly the room temperature seemed to drop several degrees. "Goodbye, Harry Potter,"

He aimed the killing curse at Harry and there was an explosion of green light. It hit Harry, there was a crack of thunder, and he screamed as a jet of white light went racing back at Voldemort. I watched in horror as Voldemort's body dissolved into nothing more than a grayish smoke. Suddenly there was another loud bang and the house began to collapse in upon itself.

We had finished falling and I felt the cords tying me together break. I choked in the smoke before standing up and hobbling over to where Harry was, taking him out from under the rubble. He began crying immediately and all I could do was bounce him up and down for a moment before I found my wand. I conjured a small blanket for him to sit on while I went to find Lily and James.

I dragged Lily out from under a mass of shingles then went to search for James. I found his hand lying limply and managed to pull him out from under whatever part of the house had been laying on him. Shaking, I decided to try the spell on James first.

The whispy cloud emerged slowly from my wand. It dissipated into his body and he began to glow. Suddenly there was a rushing sound and he gasped in breathing loudly.

"James! James, are you alright?" I asked, relief washing over my entire body.

"I—I thought I was…"

"You were. James, how do you feel? Do you feel normal?" I asked urgently.

"Yeah, I feel better than I ever have…" he answered, still in a slight shock. "Where are Lily and Harry?" he asked urgently.

I led him over to where Lily lay and Harry was sitting on his blanket next to her.

"You have to save her!"

"James listen, the spell works better if it's performed by someone really close. I think you should try it before I do. The incantation is _Desino Letum_,"

He stared at me for a moment before turning to Lily. He performed the spell and the light was even brighter than it had been before. She glowed so brightly that I had to shield my eyes. Then she gasped.

"Lily," James sighed as she sat up. They hugged one another fiercely before breaking apart.

"What happened to Harry?"

"He's fine," I answered gesturing to the baby beside her. He had stopped crying and was smiling at Lily.

"What's that on his forehead?"

"It's a cursed scar. Voldemort tried to kill him, but it backfired,"

"Keena, Harry told me he was an orphan," James accused suddenly. "We were supposed to die, weren't we?"

"I don't know anymore," I replied shrugging.

"Keena, I've been thinking about this. If you're from the future your entire story has just changed, but when he was here in fifth year, Harry told me he was an orphan. I also remember him telling you that you were in a detention or something."

"I don't get it, James," I replied, frowning.

"I think it would be best for Harry to—to grow up as an orphan."

"What?" Lily and I shouted together.

"How in the world would that be best?" Lily asked, picking Harry up defensively.

"Lily, Voldemort disappeared here. If we keep Harry with us we're putting him in an incredible amount of danger." James reasoned. Lily's eyes filled with tears as she looked from Harry to James.

"You're right," she whispered.

"He's what?" I wasn't sure I had heard correctly.

"Keena, keep in contact with us. Don't tell anyone we're alive. We'll find a place to live and as soon as we do we'll get in touch with you."

"He's what?" I asked Lily again.

"Then, if you would, we could make you our new Secret Keeper. Would you do that for us? Keep Harry safe?" James finished in a rush.

"You're giving up any sort of rights you have to Harry! You're leaving him to go and live with muggles? You're alive! I don't understand! I promised Harry that you two would live! He wanted a different life, can't you see that?"

"You don't understand, you're right," James replied.

"Keena, we love Harry but we want him to be safe. That's the first priority." Lily said imploringly.

"His safety over his happiness? You're asking your one year old son to become an orphan,"

"Please, Keena, we know he'll be safest in the muggle world." Lily begged.

I shook my head and sighed. "Help me transfigure some stuff to look like you two. Sirius and Hagrid will be showing up any minute,"

We turned two of the house beams into Lily and James and put them back where I had found them originally. Finally, Lily handed me Harry.

"I'm going to keep an eye on him." I told them. "I'll write you every day once you've found a place to live," I promised.

Lily gave a tearful smile and nodded, and James looked a little stiff. Then they departed. I had no idea where they went to but I had no time to think about it. Behind me there was a loud thump and I wheeled around, taking my wand out and aiming it at whoever had made the noise.

"Hagrid," I sighed, lowering my wand as the half-giant neared. "Thank God! I had no idea…what are we going to do?"

"I've got orders from Dumbledore. He says he wants little Harry ter go ter his aunt's place," he said, holding his arms out for me to give him Harry.

"What? Why? Why not Sirius?" I asked, trying to sound as normal as one could be after a foster brother's 'death'.

"Dumbledore's orders, Keena,"

Suddenly there was a rumbling above us. We looked up to see a giant motorcycle speeding towards the earth. Sirius landed and had barely turned the bike off when he jumped off and raced towards us.

"I just heard," he sounded breathless and his eyes were red. He swept Harry and me into a hug. "What's on his forehead?"

"It's from Voldemort's curse," I whispered. "He survived _Avada Kedavra_,"

Sirius' face paled.

"Hate ter interrupt, but I gotta get Harry here ter Dumbledore,"

"What d'you mean? I'm his godfather!" Sirius asked sounding outraged. "Let me take him,"

"Now Sirius, I know this is tough," Hagrid said. "But I got me orders,"

He looked like he wanted to argue, but Harry gave a tiny whine. Sirius sighed then it turned to a scowl.

"Take the bike. I won't need it anymore. Keena, go with Hagrid." He leaned over and gave Harry a kiss on the forehead before turning to Hagrid. "Let me show you how it works,"

After several minutes Hagrid had figured out how to work the bike. Sirius transfigured a part of a chair from the rubble and turned it into a sidecar for me to sit in with Harry. Still holding Harry, Sirius dragged me a little away from Hagrid to say goodbye.

"I'm going after him," he said.

"I know, but promise me you'll be careful," I answered. "Remember; you're innocent and you always will be."

He nodded and gave me a kiss. He nodded to Hagrid and with one last look at Harry he left.

* * *

Our trip to Surrey took us a full day's ride. We only had to stop once or twice to change Harry; he slept the majority of the time. I couldn't though. I still couldn't believe what had happened. James and Lily were alive and well for the most part. I couldn't begin to fathom why they had chosen to leave Harry as an orphan, for him to grow up with the Dursley's. None of it made sense to me. 

Night fell once more and Hagrid began descending to the ground.

We landed on a neat little road with houses that all looked the same. It was a boring and stuffy looking neighborhood. Looking up, I immediately spotted McGonagall and Dumbledore, both looking very out of place in the suburban neighborhood. McGonagall had a look of shock on her face and was staring at the bike in horror. Dumbledore had a somber smile in place as I exited the bike carefully to not disturb a sleeping Harry.

"Of all the muggles to be related to," I muttered, looking up at the house. "I don't suppose you've ever met Petunia," I asked Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow.

"I have yet to have the pleasure," he admitted.

"So you don't know what these muggles are like?" McGonagall asked outraged. "I've watched them all day! Their son wouldn't stop screaming until he got sweets when his mother took him for a walk! My fur was beginning to stand on end!"

"They are his family," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"Well what about Keena? She is his godmother! Why can't she take him?"

"Minerva you already know those circumstances," he said quietly.

All three of them looked at me for a moment. I could tell that they were blaming me for not stopping any of it. They blamed me for the deaths of Lily and James Potter and of Nathaniel and Jaime Potter. I couldn't blame any of them for thinking so low of me.

"Honestly, Professor, shouldn't you at least deliver Harry to their faces? How will they possibly accept a letter?" I asked to get the tension off of me.

"I don't know, you tell me; will they take Harry?"

I frowned and looked at Harry, who was still sleeping in my arms. "I wish I could take him." I muttered before looking up to meet Dumbledore in his icy blue eyes. "Just because I can't take him with me doesn't mean I won't be watching. If I feel that there is something wrong, I'm going to intervene. With or without your permission,"

"I'm sure nothing will go wrong," Dumbledore replied. "We should go," he added, holding his arms out to accept Harry from me.

Reluctantly, I handed off the sleeping baby to the old headmaster. Suddenly there was a loud cry and we all wheeled around to see Hagrid bringing a handkerchief to his face.

"It's all right, Hagrid," I said with a somewhat tearful smile. "We'll all see him again."

"I know it, it's just so sad 'bout Lily an' James an' all. An' little Harry off ter live with these muggles," he cried.

I stayed quiet as McGonagall patted Hagrid's arm, nodding in agreement.

Dumbledore came back down the path and stood with us on the driveway and we all watched Harry as he slept. A light breeze blew and Harry sneezed. That's when I couldn't control my own tears. I began to sob as I thought about the life that Lily and James had just given up all for the sake of Harry's safety. I thought about Sirius' future in Azkaban and Peter's as a rat for the next thirteen years. I wondered what would happen to Remus and myself and if we would keep our jobs at the ministry or if we'd be closed down. And I worried about the life that Harry was about to lead. He had always spoken little about his life with the Dursley's but the little he said made me want to go and rip his aunt and uncle to shreds.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Dumbledore looking at me, a tear falling into his beard. I sighed, dried my eyes, and looked at them all, waiting to decide what I would do and where I would go.

"I think it best we all go and celebrate the downfall of Voldemort and remember the deaths of those we loved," Dumbledore said quietly.

McGonagall and I nodded in agreement and Hagrid blew his nose loudly.

"I best return Sirius' bike to him," Hagrid said, hopping back onto the bike. "Keena, d'you want a ride?"

"No, I'm going back to Godric's Hollow," I answered. "L—Lily and James are still there and I want to beat the Death Eaters,"

"I think I shall join you," Dumbledore said. "As tribute to James; I'm positive he'd take this opportunity to...what was it he and Sirius would always say after a meeting? Ah yes, 'kick Death Eater arse',"

I cracked a smile. "Professor, when did your language become so foul?"

"Simple, when people decided it was alright to begin killing off my friends," he answered.

I smiled and looked up at Hagrid and McGonagall. "Either of you interested in joining in on the fun?"

"Not tonight," Hagrid replied. "I'll see you both at Hogwarts," he said to Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"What about you, Mickey?"

For once, she didn't snap back at the nickname. "I'm sure there are students out of bed. I wish to let them know that this is the one night they shall get away with it,"

With that, the two of them departed leaving Dumbledore and me.

We looked over at Harry one last time.

"Good luck, Harry Potter," Dumbledore whispered.

Then we apparated away to find ourselves face to face with several Death Eaters.

That's when the fun began.

* * *

Dumbledore and I busted twelve Death Eaters that night and they were all sent to Azkaban without trail by Barty Crouch. He had given himself quite a status over the past few years and people were learning to stay on his good side. 

It was mid-November and we still hadn't held a funeral for Lily and James yet. Everyone was always busy and it seemed that the war had reached its peak. Death Eaters were being captured left and right. Remus and I found ourselves in multiple battles alongside trained Aurors and other volunteers. A mad search had been set up to catch Sirius. I had tried to tell Remus and Dumbledore that Secret Keepers had been switched unexpectedly at the last moment but both of them thought it was a plea to keep Sirius free.

On November twelfth I had decided to go and visit Harry or check up on him at least. It was too dangerous to apparate close to Privet Drive, so I arrived several streets over in a cul-de-sac. It was mid-afternoon when I got there. I was just about to make my way over when there was a loud bang to my left.

I whipped out my wand to see two men racing in my direction, both with wands.

Muggles had been attracted by the noise and were flocking outside to see what all the commotion was. They ran closer and I recognized them as Peter and Sirius.

They stopped quite suddenly, both panting and out of breath. Sirius didn't notice the audience, though Peter did.

"How could you Sirius?" he shouted.

"How could I what?" Sirius bellowed back.

"Lily and James! You betrayed them! We all know you are the real person to blame!"

"You twisted bastard!" I shouted, running over to stand with Sirius.

"You even tricked Keena into believing you? I thought you were a true friend, Sirius, but I guess I was wrong!"

I was about to retort when an explosion went off. Sirius dragged me to the ground and I could here the screams of the shocked muggles. As the smoke cleared, Sirius stood up and looked around, searching for Peter. I stood shakily next to him, looking around seeing all the dead bodies, but one was missing out of the thirteen. I couldn't see Peter. Suddenly Sirius began to laugh.

"It's done," he said, his smile huge. "He's gone!" his laugh didn't sound normal, it sounded possessed. I blinked and backed away, shaking my head. "Aren't you glad? The traitor is dead!"

Suddenly there were loud bangs surrounding us as Aurors moved in and still Sirius laughed. Out of nowhere, a large van appeared with wizards in yellow and black robes. They stepped out, took Sirius' wand, and tied his hands, but nothing would cause his laughter to cease.

"Wait!" I said, finding my voice. "No! You can't do this!"

"Miss, please," one of the wizards said, trying to hold me back and stop me from reaching Sirius.

"No! You can't take him! He's innocent! He's innocent!"

"Can someone please take care of her?" he shouted as I continued to struggle against him.

"No! Sirius! Stop! You're innocent! Please! Let me go!" I screamed.

"Keena," someone said from behind me, taking me from the wizard.

"No, let me go! He's innocent!"

"Keena, stop!" Remus pulled me into a hug, facing away from where they were leading Sirius. "It's okay, they've got him,"

"No, it's not okay! They've got the wrong man! Please, Remus, you have to believe me!" I cried.

"Get her out of here, there's enough commotion as it is," another wizard called.

"C'mon, Keena, let's get you to St. Mungo's. You need a calming draught," Remus muttered.

"No I don't! I'm fine! It's Sirius! You've got to let him go!"

"Keena!"

"If you can't get her to calm down, we'll stun her," the wizard warned.

"She'll be fine I swear," Remus pleaded. "Please, Keena, this is hard enough. Let's just go,"

I didn't reply. I just watched as once again another innocent person fell victim to the consequences my stupidity.

* * *

**That's the end of this chapter! Next up is Chapter 14! Please remember to review! Oh, and I disclaim! **

**:-D**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Surprise.

**I long ago ran out of interesting things to say while disclaiming...I'm sorry.**

* * *

After Sirius' arrest Dumbledore and Remus both thought it would be a bad idea for me to live on my own. As a result Remus and I ended up getting a two-bedroom house because no one was willing to rent out to a werewolf and it was too complicated to keep switching galleons and so on to muggle money. It was small, but it did the trick plus it wasn't too far away from Privet Drive so I was still able to walk by the Dursley's house unnoticed by anyone. That's what I did most days. 

Remus and I had been fired from the Department of Mysteries. Our time for inventing was up and we didn't think it was a good idea to publish the Revival Spell. Remus didn't know it worked in any case. We had each tried it on the fake Lily and James the day after they 'died'. So now we were looking for small jobs to work in order to pay off taxes and such.

James and Lily hadn't written to me and I was getting nervous. I didn't sleep much anymore either. I was always thinking about the 'what ifs'. What if the Revival Spell really hadn't worked and they just dropped dead somewhere? What if they changed their minds, came back, and saved Harry from his fate? What if someone found out they survived and arrested them for abandonment? So many questions that I could ask and I think I did ask all of them.

"Keena?" Remus was standing at my door one night. I had just gotten back from taking a long walk. I had apparated to Godric's Hollow then back to Privet Drive.

"Yeah?"

"I uh…I just got some upsetting news." He paused and when I didn't reply he continued. "It's about the Longbottoms…Death Eaters tortured them. Dumbledore wanted to know if you might have an idea about who did it…Frank and Alice—well, they're not up to answering any questions."

I shook my head and sighed, facing the ground. Another pair of happy and healthy people I had let down.

"I don't know all of the names, but I can give you some." I said when I looked up. "Bellatrix and Rolph—Rolph…whatever her loser of a husband's name is; the Lestranges. They were in on it. And also, Barty Crouch Jr. was one of them," I thought for a minute more before shaking my head again. "I honestly can't remember the others, Moony, I'm sorry,"

"Are you kidding? You just identified three sick and twisted assholes!"

"I cheated time and all I could do was turn in three scumbags who would have ended up in Azkaban anyways while allowing four people I love to just die and letting an innocent man I love be taken to Azkaban. Of course I'm not kidding," I replied lying back on my bed.

"Keena, I'm not going to pretend I know exactly how you're feeling, but I am upset too. We just have to—we have to move on. Dwelling on it, any of it, won't be good for any of us."

"Remus, until you hear some good news, I don't see a reason to be happy. Harry is living with monsters, Sirius is living with real monsters, James and Lily…I don't even know anymore. What was Dumbledore's point in sending me back here?"

"Well, I can't answer that but I think I have some good news,"

"What?"

"Amanda and Damian got engaged."

"They did?" I squealed, perking up.

"Yeah and want to know something even better?"

"What?"

"Nickie and Orion, and Lexi and Jeremy all eloped,"

"What? They got married without me being there?"

"I guess they did it months ago but never told anyone,"

"Why?"

"Well, the same reason no one was telling anyone anything I guess. It's all over the papers. There are so many wedding and engagement announcements coming out it's scary," he pulled a face of fake horror.

I just laughed.

* * *

It was December first and things had finally slowed down enough that we could have a proper funeral. However, Remus, Nickie, Orion, Lexi, Amanda and Professor McGonagall all insisted that Harry should be present at the funeral. The problem was A) Death Eaters were still loose and B) we couldn't figure out how to get him away from his aunt and uncle's without them thinking any of us would take care of him. Not that people hadn't volunteered. Hundreds of letters had flooded the house demanding to know why I didn't have custody and where he was so that they could take him and raise him. Thankfully, Dumbledore had addressed the issue publicly saying Harry was being carefully watched by himself and a few other choice people. The letters hadn't flooded in quite so much after that. 

"Professor, why don't we just get them invited to a family Christmas party? They won't want to take Harry and a 'babysitter' will take him off of their hands for a day?" I suggested one afternoon. "Or someone could give Mr. Dursley's sister the idea to host a party or something,"

"I'm still not confident in the fact that Harry should attend," Dumbledore answered, stroking his beard. Dumbledore, Remus and I were sitting in his office discussing how to get Harry in our hands for his parents' funeral. "Still, the opportunity may present itself to us,"

It did. Arabella Figg stopped me one morning as I was heading to see Harry with news that she would be babysitting for two days and one night on the fifth. It would be a Monday, but we would have to deal with that.

Mrs. Figg got Harry at ten o'clock Monday morning and Remus and I picked her up at noon. We took a portkey to the Godric's Hollow cemetery and found ourselves in a snowy graveyard. They air was chilling and I could feel my nose turning bright red. I took Harry from Mrs. Figg; the plan was to apparate at the first sign of trouble.

"Kenah," Harry said, reaching up to pull my hair.

"Oh, Remus, he remembers me," my heart was starting to split all over again.

"Mumma?"

My head snapped up and I stared at Remus, my eyes watering. He looked as pale as I felt. Harry continued to ask for Lily and James too.

"Remus?" I asked, my voice shaking.

He shook his head and led me to James and Lily's graves. But by the time we started trying to get to them, there were crowds of people all in black cloaks. I held Harry close, trying to hide his face so that people wouldn't point. Remus had his own head ducked in fear that someone would recognize him as a werewolf and start a riot. Finally I spotted Dumbledore's silver hair and knew that we had made it through.

The service was incredibly long as random people kept going up front to say how sorry they were about Lily and James and what nice people they had been. The laments seemed to never end. I spotted a reporter and photographer and I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I noticed the reporter's quill was moving on its own accord. Then the reporter herself decided to get up and speak.

"It is, as it has been said, a tragic loss to the entire Wizarding community. James Potter was a brave, strong, honest Auror and Lily his faithful, loving wife…"

"Ten to one says she was in James' fan club," I muttered to Remus who gave a wry smile.

"But it seems that some of us do not show the same amount of passion," she said pointedly and I caught her eyes glaring into mine. "Perhaps James' foster sister would like to share a few words,"

I raised an eyebrow as the crowd suddenly seemed to notice my presence. It felt like an enormous weight had been dropped onto my shoulders. Looking from Remus to Dumbledore I sighed and swiftly handed Harry off to Dumbledore and headed for the small podium.

"I do have something I'd like to share." I said, standing tall and trying to control my emotions. "How many of you can honestly say you met James or Lily?" The entire crowd raised their hands. "How many of you met Harry? Know what his first word was? When he learned how to crawl and walk? I doubt the same number of hands would be raised. None of you know Harry so none of you could possibly know James or Lily. Their love and passion for their son was what drove their family. There wasn't a day that went by that Lily didn't look at her son and give the most radiant smile a person could give. And James was always so proud and so loving. They had a great future ahead of them.

The fact that so many of you showed up just proves how many people Voldemort affected, not how many of you really cared for Lily or James or even Harry. The fact that a reporter is here and doesn't even have the decency to use a normal quill instead of a Quick Quotes Quill proves she's only looking to screw someone over and make herself look good." A few people gasped and glared over at the reporter who turned a delicate shade of rose.

"I don't think any of you knew James and Lily Potter. This isn't a funeral for you; it's a memorial for anybody who died during this prolonged battle. I've known James since I was eleven years old. He was the funniest kid I have ever met and was always looking for a good laugh and that never changed. And Lily was just the sweetest and most helpful girl and friend and you couldn't ask for more out of her and that never changed either.

For me, and probably everyone else here who lost someone, the person never changed and they're still the same, just harder to get in contact with. It's not that they're dead. They've all just moved past death and gone into a greater life. You can either live life in the moment or you can watch the train ride by, hoping that the opportunity to ride will come again. I think Lily and James took that ride and I think they're still taking it. I know I'm not alone when I say that I'm going to miss them. We're all going to miss the people we love, but I think that now is the time to stop dwelling and move on.

So, to Lily and James, good luck wherever you are, and to all others who suffered a similar fate. Good luck and we miss you,"

I blinked and felt a tear in my eye. I quickly stepped down and the eyes of the crowd followed me back to where I had been standing before turning to the next person to give their own eulogy.

* * *

The funeral continued for another hour before it started snowing. Crowds of people were beginning to leave and Dumbledore finally handed Harry back to me. 

"Excuse me, miss, but I don't think I know your name," it was the reporter. She had made her way over with her photographer and was holding her quill and a bit of parchment.

"That's because I didn't give it to you," I answered stiffly. "I don't often give my name to strangers, you see,"

"A stranger? Me? Oh, but you must have heard of me! I'm Rita Skeeter," she shuffled her quill and parchment into one hand and held the other out for me to shake. _Oh joy she's writing on this...how lovely..._

I didn't move, just eyed her hand.

"That was a lovely eulogy you gave. Is it true that you know Harry Potter's first word?"

"Yes,"

"Intriguing. You know, our readers would feel so much closer to the story if they were to hear what his first word was, him being the hero of our time and all,"

"I'm sure they would feel that way," I agreed, putting on a huge fake smile.

"Yes…well…oh, I remember now! You're Keena McIntosh! Sirius Black's crazy girlfriend! Yes, I remember now. You grew up in the Potter's house and James was like a brother to you wasn't he? I heard Lily and he took you in when you got pregnant with Sirius, am I correct?"

"No, not really," but she ignored me and plowed on.

"That must be your son with Sirius? No, that can't be right, I heard it was a baby girl with some ridiculous name…Arabia was it? So whose son is this?" she reached out a hand to turn Harry's face so that she could see.

"I miscarried my daughter," I snapped, moving Harry away from Rita's hand and accidentally bumping into Remus. "You'll find her grave stone right there," I continued pointing.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she didn't sound it. "You're…Oh dear, from mass murderers to werewolves?" she hissed as she spotted Remus. "You do move on quickly."

"Excuse me?"

"Godmother of Harry Potter Dates Werewolf' sounds like a lovely title! The people would absolutely be horrified! Wonderful! No wonder Dumbledore wouldn't give you the baby," she laughed to herself.

Just then Harry sneezed and turned to face Rita.

"Oh my God, it's Harry Potter!" she yelled. Suddenly her photographer began snapping photos wildly and people who still hadn't left crowded around to try and get a look at him.

Suddenly, as if on a queue, there was an explosion near the entrance of the cemetery. The mass of people turned around and started screaming as several Death Eaters began attacking.

Remus grabbed me by my shoulders and apparated the three of us away. We landed on the edge of the Hogwarts Grounds before we started running up to the school. I heard people coming from behind, but I kept racing towards the school. There was an enormous bang and an explosion took place where I had been moments before. I wheeled around to see Death Eaters and Aurors battling, trying to get to Harry.

"Don't look back!" Remus shouted, pulling me away and leading me up to the castle.

We made it up the stairs and ran into the hall. Students were gathering in the hall to try and see what all the noise was. They spotted us and immediately began parting to let us through. Some of the older looking students began pulling out there wands, as the explosions seemed to get closer.

"Remus! Wait!" I shouted when I realized we were heading for the Hospital Wing. "We can't go there, there might be students!"

"Then where are we going to go?" he shouted back as we continued heading for the Hospital Wing.

"I don't know, but we can't stay here." I stopped running to readjust the way I was holding Harry, who was crying.

Remus stood, panting before grabbing my hand and dragging me off towards the teacher's room. We got there in a matter of seconds (which was saying something) and he began searching the room for something.

"What are you looking for?" I asked angrily. "We need to leave!"

"We can't leave without floo powder, so help me find some!"

"_Accio floo powder_!" I shouted after taking out my wand. A glass jar of the silvery powder flew to my hands and I just barely caught it. "Where to?"

Suddenly the door to the lounge flew open and I screamed.

* * *

**Yay! Cliffy! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! It may not seem like it, but more than half this chapter was written after the first two reviews on chapter 13 were given! I hope you enjoyed and will continue to review! Until chapter 15!**

**:-D**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Saying Goodbye and Hello Again

**I own zippidy do dah.

* * *

**

"Shut up you fool!" Snape shouted while waving a silencing charm at me. "Do you honestly want them to find you from outside of the castle?" I glared in response and Remus cast a charm to give me my voice back.

"She wouldn't have screamed if the two-timing trader hadn't banged the bloody door open!" Remus yelled back at Snape. "If you don't mind we were just about to leave,"

"Where do you think you can possibly go that's safer than right here?" Snape's voice still held the same sort of sliminess as it had at school. "I wouldn't be up here if not to tell you that our _shining savior_ was to stay here until he can be returned to his aunt and uncle's home,"

"Are you out of your mind? Did you see all those Death Eaters?" I asked.

"You think _I _want to risk that? This was an order from the headmaster,"

"So where are we supposed to stay then?" Remus asked, still fuming slightly.

"You could stay in this room for all I care," I was about to retort but Snape continued. "Lovely eulogy by the way," I couldn't tell if he had said it with sarcasm or not.

"Thank you," I replied, eyeing him expecting to find a sneer. There was none. He didn't give any indication that he had heard my reply, just turned around and swept out of the room, wand out. "Since when did he give a damn?" I asked Remus.

"Since when did he say 'lovely'? Maybe he did change…"

I shook my head. "No, he's still a bastard in my time…Perhaps he's trying to suck up to dear old dumbles?"

Remus nodded. "That's probable,"

We waited for half an hour for the blasts from outside to cease. Harry had fallen asleep within fifteen minutes and Remus had put up silencing charms (we had checked periodically to see if the fight could still be heard). Remus took the charms down and cautiously we headed into the hallway.

There were no students to be seen, though we did run through Nearly Headless Nick. How we missed him I don't know.

"I was just coming up to fetch the two of you," he said, smirking slightly at the looks on our faces. The icy feeling also caused Harry to wake with a snivel. "It is safe to return Harry to Mrs. Figg; she is waiting at her home."

"Thanks Nick," Remus said.

"Not at all," Nick said before floating through the wall on the other side of the corridor.

"Shall we just go back to the teacher's lounge?" I asked.

"Might as well," Remus replied shrugging. "I don't know about you, but this was not what I had in mind for today," I laughed and he raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't joking,"

"I know it's just funny."

"Wait…did I miss something?"

"I mean it is sort of funny that people expected today to go by without a glitch,"

He looked at me for a moment before laughing out loud himself. "You're right. Since when did things go our way?"

We were back in the teacher's lounge and Harry was now wide awake and giggling along with us.

"I wish he didn't have to go back," I sighed.

"You'll still be able to watch over him," Remus reassured.

"I know, but it's not the same…"

"I know, I'm worried too,"

We flooed back to Mrs. Figg's house. She happily took Harry, exclaiming how dangerous the whole plan had been. In her opinion, whatever Dumbledore did or thought everyone should do or think. She really was a crazy old bat.

* * *

A full two years had gone by and still I had had no word from Lily and James. The worrying stage had long since past me and I was now accepting the fact that they weren't going to reply. I had to focus on my new job; Auror training. 

I had all the credits for it, just not the stomach. I had been in plenty of duels at Hogwarts, but they never involved going in search of people who we would find usually half-dead or worse. It was weird, I had never thought that there were many more dark wizards than Voldemort but I guess he just pushed them all to the fourth page of the prophet during the war.

Remus was taking small jobs that often wouldn't last long. His longest record so far was five months with the same job. There was talk, however, of a new potion that the ministry was testing. People were saying it could cure werewolves or close to it. Every time the papers mentioned it, Remus would stare at the headline, read the story then crumple it up, throw it into the air and blast it to bits. He said he didn't want to get his hopes up for when it was discovered the potion didn't work and it was all a hoax.

"Still don't trust it?" I asked one morning in late October.

"Nope," he said, flicking bits of newspaper ash off of his sleeves.

"Why not? Have a little faith,"

"I had faith when they first hired me at the Department of Mysteries. Not once did they find something that worked. Why should they now?"

"Because for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction," I stated.

"Newton's Law?"

"Yup,"

"A muggle saying as a reason for a werewolf to trust anyone. Nice combo,"

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Aren't you late for work yet?"

I looked at my watch. "I will be in five minutes,"

"Then shouldn't you get going? You're the only one with a steady job. Without you we can't pay taxes,"

"Ugh…I hate being responsible," I said, getting up to leave. "How late do you expect to be?"

"Depends on how the search goes," he answered shrugging.

"Okay, see you,"

I apparated to the Auror training office. Luckily my training officer was one Auror Dale.

"You're late," Nickie said, tapping her foot.

Startled, I looked at my watch again. "No I'm five minutes early,"

"One time zone over you're nearly an hour late," she replied, a grin becoming apparent on her face.

I shook my head, smiling. "So how's stuff?"

"Ack, y'know. Raising a kid isn't as hard as everybody says it is," Orion and Nickie had had a little girl about five months after the defeat of Voldemort. She was a spunky little kid with bright red hair to match her father's with an attitude to rival her mom's. They had decided that Orion would take Nickie's last name instead of the other way around. Neither of them wanted to be associated with Sirius.

"So Alexis is a good little two-year-old?" smiling at how my question contradicted itself.

"Yeah, though I'm sort of disappointed; I wanted to have fun with the Terrible Twos."

"Guess you'll have to wait for her to become a teenager then, huh?"

"Don't say that! I'll be old then!"

"Well then, what are we doing today?"

"The usual, only if you do it all perfectly I'm going to give you your license."

"Is that legal? I've only been training for a few months,"

"Yeah, but in the months before that you were a volunteer to get the rest of those Death Eaters. The boss says that anyone who helped and is now officially training should be allowed in no questions,"

"None?" I asked, arching one eyebrow.

"You know me, I exaggerate," she said, waving her hand at the small detail.

* * *

That night I got home around six with a grin on my face and a silver badge in my hand. I was now a legal Auror and I couldn't wait to tell Remus. He wasn't home though and he had left a note on the counter saying he wouldn't be back until late. So I opened the fridge to find it completely restocked. _I guess he had time to shop today…Wonder if he went to a muggle place again…_

Suddenly there was a tapping at the window. Looking over I saw an owl tapping on the window over the sink. Closing the fridge, I went over and let the owl in. It was a huge brown bird with big orange eyes. It stuck out its leg for me to take the tiny scrap of parchment. The owl didn't leave, but stared at me as if waiting for me to give the letter back. Unrolling the parchment, I read.

_Dear Blacktip,_

_Sorry this took so long to get to you, but we've only just found a place. We wanted to be as close to Hogwarts as we could be. Could you possibly meet me a day or so after you get this message in the Forbidden Forest? In your animagus form preferably, that's what I'll be in. Come to just behind the Shrieking Shack, I'll be waiting. _

_Prongs_

I put the letter down after rereading it several times. Shaking, I turned the parchment over and summoned a quill and some ink.

_Dear Prongs,_

_I'll be there._

_Blacktip_

I tied the note back onto the owl's leg and watched as it took flight from the kitchen window. I stood at the window staring after the bird for some time before I realized I was crying. _They're alive…_

"Keena?" I jumped and turned around to find Remus staring at me worriedly. "Are you alright? What was that letter?"

"I'm fine, it was just another letter yelling at me for not taking Harry," I said quickly, wiping my eyes. "They don't get any better with time. So did you find anything?"

"Yeah, I did actually," he said, smiling a little. "They need some help in Flourish and Blotts and they said they'd take me. Mr. Mullen already knows my secret so I expect I'll be able to keep the job for a while."

"That's great!" I said grinning.

"How about you? How was training?"

I smiled and held out my badge. "I graduated,"

* * *

The next night was the night before the full moon. Remus had received a letter asking him to join in on a survey involving that morning's explosion. I convinced him to respond 'yes' and now he was spending the next few days at the ministry. 

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?"

"Remus, you are definitely the mother hen of the group," I said, shooing him into the fireplace.

"But it's Sunday tomorrow, what are you planning on doing?"

"I think I'll get so pissed I can't see a strait line before going to bed with some psycho asshole and get knocked up. Sounds like a fun time doesn't it?" he glared at me. "I'll be fine, Moony, honestly,"

"Well, if you need anything--"

"I'll go strait to Nickie's okay? Now go, or you'll be late,"

"I don't think this'll work," he muttered.

"Even if it doesn't then at least you tried,"

He heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll see you Tuesday,"

"I'll be here,"

"Bye,"

"Bye,"

He left in a swirl of green flames. I turned around to face the kitchen for a moment, thinking before I went over to the front door and locked with several defensive spells. After I had locked the entire house, I apparated to just beyond the limits of the Hogwarts grounds, near the Shrieking Shack.

After a quick spell to check and make sure I was as alone as it seemed, I transformed into my animagus. I set off towards the 'haunted house' at a brisk pace. I heard a twig snap; I wheeled around, and snarled defensively. I couldn't see what had made the noise, but I knew whatever it was it was big. Then out of the trees emerged a magnificent stag with white tips on his antlers.

"J—James?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Hello," he replied, bowing his head a little. "C'mon, Lily is waiting,"

We set off at a near sprint and delved deep into the Forbidden Forest.

"Silly me, I thought you'd pick a safe place to live,"

"Keena, when have I ever done something on the safe side?"

We neared a clearing and James slowed down to a trot. Just up ahead I spotted a small cabin with a person waiting just inside the doorway. Lily came running once James and I had transformed back into our human selves.

"Keena! We've missed everyone so much! We haven't had a scrap of news for the past few years! How's everyone? How is Harry? Is he talking? How often do you see him? What about you and Sirius? Or Orion and Nickie? Or Remus? Amanda and Damian?" Lily was giving me such a hug that I thought I must be turning blue.

"It's so good to see you two as well. I've missed you so much and so have the others," I answered. "Harry is talking, quite a bit more than his cousin actually,"

"Ha! I told you wizards are better learners than muggles," James said triumphantly.

"James that has nothing to do with it," Lily replied. "My sister married a dolt. It's all in their son's jeans," James and I both smirked and Lily blushed. "It's true,"

"How are the others?" James asked satisfied and turning back to me. "Did they get Wormtail?" I frowned. "They still haven't got him? How can that be?"

"You switched them. Last minute. No body believed me and Sirius wasn't given a trial," I answered, tears welling up immediately at the unfairness of it all. "He's in Azkaban for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles as well as conspiring with Lord Voldemort,"

James' mouth dropped and Lily gave a horrified gasp.

"Everyone else is just fine, though. Orion, Nickie, Lexi and Jeremy all eloped sometime before you two…died and Amanda and Damian got engaged just after. Nickie and Orion have a little two-year-old named Alexis. Lexi and Jeremy also have a two-year-old son and they're waiting for the arrival of their second. Amanda and Damian have a one-year-old boy they named Damian James, DJ for short. It was decided that for my own good after Sirius' arrest that I should live with someone. Remus and I are officially roommates and we got a house to avoid being kicked out if his secret was ever discovered. I've just become an Auror and Remus just landed a job at Flourish and Blotts. That's pretty much it as far as everyone's social status goes."

"So everyone has kids and Sirius murdered thirteen people to avenge us?" James asked, finding his voice.

"Of course he didn't kill anyone!" I nearly shouted.

"But you said he did?" Lily asked confused.

"No, that was what he was arrested for. Peter set off the explosion that killed those people and he cut off his finger as proof that he was dead! This whole thing is due to come back up in another ten years,"

"So twelve years in Azkaban? For…us?"

"I guess you could say that," I muttered.

"What did he do when he found out they were going to get him after he--er--didn't kill Peter? Run or fight?"

"He laughed. He thought Wormtail was dead and he was happy about it. I don't think it even occurred to him where he was going to go until later. I was there," I added.

"One last question. When can I kill Peter?" James asked seriously.

I thought for a long moment before shaking my head. "You can't."

"What d'you mean I can't?"

"I mean he's got a lot more damage he's got to do before you can kill him. I'll let you know as soon as the opportunity presents itself,"

James stared at me horrorstruck. "You're telling me I can't kill the bastard who betrayed my family? Who landed my best friend in Azkaban?"

"Yes I am. If he didn't have so much that depended on him he would be dead already. Believe me,"

"Is there any happy news?" Lily asked, quietly, her face still red.

"Remus is testing a potion that could possibly diffuse the effects of the full moon," I answered. "It's called the Wolfsbane Potion."

"How did you convince him to do that?"

"I still don't know. But I do know that it should work. I'll find out on Tuesday,"

"That's great," Lily said nodding. "He'll be so much happier,"

"So other than you, everyone thinks Sirius is a murderer?" James asked, still hung up on the previous conversation.

"James, I know it's not a comfort, but he'll survive it. I know he will. Hell, he's going to escape it,"

"Impossible," a wild grin had spread over James' face, though Lily looked slightly wary. "Do we help? How're you gonna get him out?"

"We don't help, he's got everything he needs, minus the incentive but once he's got a reason he'll go. Trust me on that,"

"Okay, but what else has gone on?"

"Snape kept his teaching job at Hogwarts," I answered moodily.

"But you knew that would happen," Lily answered. "Honestly, if Dumbledore trusts him, maybe we should too,"

"Not a chance," James and I replied in unison.

"Fine," Lily replied. "Should we get this over with? Then we don't have to worry about the centaurs anymore. They get annoying. Keep looking at the sky and saying 'Mars is dimming'."

We all went inside the cabin. It had four rooms: a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. It looked cozier than I would've imagined, but a lot of it looked like magical illusion. The Fidelius Charm was similar to an Unbreakable Vow. I held Lily's hand and James played the role of the caster and witness. The only difference was the actual incantation and nature of the spell. I could tell anyone I liked about the location of Lily and James, plus I wouldn't die if I broke the promise of their protection.

"So that's it? I'm officially the only person in the world that knows you're still alive and where you both live?" Lily nodded, though James didn't say anything. "It's never too late to have second thoughts,"

"No…I'm still sure it's better this way even if it is harder. Whatever is easier for the heart never seems to be better for the world," James replied. "Promise you'll write every chance you get though,"

"Of course, and I'll send you copies of the prophet when I can."

"That'll be great," Lily agreed. "But what if Remus gets suspicious?"

"Then we'll let him in on it," James replied shrugging. "Maybe he can help get Sirius freed," Lily and I nodded.

"I won't stop fighting for him, James, I promise,"

He grinned. "I know, just don't get yourself arrested,"

"Let's think for a moment about who was the one of the group with the least detentions," I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"Moony," James replied.

"Fine, second least," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You," James said, annoyed. Lily laughed.

"And don't you forget it,"

* * *

**And don't you forget to review! Thanks so much for reading! Up next comes chapter 16 (I may skip a few years I haven't decided yet)! **

**:-D**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Babysitting

**Another day, another dollar…for JK.**

**There were questions about some things going on in Harry's current life style so I'll answer them now before I forget! Yes, Harry is still living in the cupboard under the stairs but Keena may intervene with that at some point as well as the issue of food (though I haven't figured out how yet). And regarding Harry's knowledge of his parents' existence…well that will be in a different story. This is a series so I do have to save something for later stories! Thanks to panther73110 for bringing these questions to my attention! Please enjoy this next chapter!**

Four years had passed since I had met face to face with James and Lily. Sure I was in nearly constant contact with them, but that did little to make me feel any better. As I had promised, I sent them a copy of the Daily Prophet whenever I could, sometimes I'd even stow a copy away when I had finished with it only to send it to them when Remus wasn't home. I also was able to get my hands on pictures of Harry from the times Mrs. Figg babysat him, which she did about three times a month. I would send these to Lily and James as well.

Harry was seven years old now and was going to be in first grade in the coming school year. It was late August when a knock sounded on the door one Saturday evening. It was Mrs. Figg.

"I have to watch him again tomorrow," she said once Remus had invited her in and I had gone to get her tea. We didn't have a large supply of it mainly because I didn't drink it and Remus wasn't home enough that we needed a lot so it took me a minute to find tea bags. "But I haven't told Petunia that I've got an appointment at eleven. I'll phone her if you don't want to take him for a few hours. I figured you could pose as my niece and nephew if you liked,"

"Have you run this by Dumbledore?" I asked prepared to be surprised if she hadn't.

"Of course and he says it's a wonderful idea,"

"Wonder what caused his change of heart," Remus asked.

"Look if you two don't take this seriously I will tell Petunia I can't take the boy!"

"Oh, no, Mrs. Figg he was only joking," I said quickly. "We'd love to take Harry!"

"It's only a few hours dear, and you'll be watching him at my house."

"Doesn't matter, I want to see him,"

"It's settled then. Be at my house for ten o'clock, they're dropping him at ten thirty. He's a sweet child, though you probably know that through your spying Keena," I blushed. "Yes, you are rather obvious about it. Better be more careful in the future," I nodded eagerly as she rose and headed out the door.

"See you tomorrow, Mrs. Figg," I called after her. "Isn't this exciting?" I asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you sure you can deal with this?"

I frowned, taken aback at Remus' comment. "What d'you mean?"

"I mean don't you think this'll bring up old memories?"

"Of course it will, but I want him to have at least one fun day before he gets to Hogwarts. We owe him, Moony,"

Remus sighed. "Just don't get attached," he warned.

The next morning we headed over to Mrs. Figg's house in muggle clothing. It was Sunday so the bookshop was closed and I got the day off. Her house had a musty smell to it and there was cat fur everywhere. A striped orange and white cat came right up to Remus when we arrived and hissed. He glared at the cat and, after glancing at me with a small smile, he growled at it. The cat screeched and darted off up the stairs.

"Remus Lupin, don't you dare scare my cats!" Mrs. Figg shouted, causing us both to jump and turn around. We found Mrs. Figg standing outside on the threshold just behind us holding several grocery bags. "Don't just stand there gawking, help me!" she commanded. Eyeing her large, overstuffed purse, Remus took all the bags from Mrs. Figg's arms and carried them to the kitchen as she instructed.

"Now, I've got some ground rules that the headmaster wishes me to relay off to the two of you. First off Harry is not to know that he is a wizard etc. Two, we can't be too nice to him. I'm not saying be mean, but don't be nice enough that Petunia can tell he's had himself a good time or she won't bring him back here."

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe it is," there was a knock on the door. "That'll be them," she said.

"I'll get it," I said. I was nearest to the door and only had to walk a few steps before opening it. On the threshold stood a pale faced woman who looked far too skinny with an abnormally long neck. Her nose was small and pointed and she had dull brown eyes. At her side was a little boy who barely reached her waist in height. He had a mop of black hair and glasses that looked as though they had been broken multiple times.

"Oh, I didn't realize Mrs. Figg was to have company," Petunia Dursley stated.

"In here, Petunia!" Mrs. Figg called. I stepped aside to allow the two to enter, watching Harry's careful footsteps and noting that he stayed exactly one-step behind his aunt.

"Is this a bad time, Mrs. Figg?"

"Not at all, my niece and nephew are staying for a few days in any case." She said, not bothering to introduce us. "Now where are you and the family off to today?"

"Vernon is taking Dudley to the movies and I'm going off with some friends. We really do appreciate you taking him," she added. "You are a saint,"

"I tell you, Petunia; you just have to know how to keep them preoccupied,"

"I couldn't agree more,"

"Well, have a good day with your friends,"

"Yes, I'll be back for him later," she said, leaving. I watched her as the door shut and I listened as I heard her hurried footsteps rush away.

"Well, I too must be off. Harry, don't cause these two any trouble while I'm away. You hear?" Harry nodded, staring at the ground. "Look at people when they talk to you,"

"Yes, Mrs. Figg," he muttered and I felt a tiny pang of anger at the old woman.

"Good. I'll see you two later," with that Mrs. Figg left as well.

"Um…Harry? What are you doing?" I turned around as Remus watched with an eyebrow raised as Harry began putting groceries away.

He didn't look up as he answered Remus. "Aunt Petunia says I have to not be a burden and do my job," his voice was so innocent and cute I wanted to give him a huge hug. Remus and I frowned as Harry proceeded to climb on top of the counter to put some of the cereal into a high cabinet. He did it with such ease that it made me think he'd done it a thousand times.

Without a word, Remus took the box from Harry's little hands and took him off the counter. Harry cowered as if he expected Remus to hit him.

"Why are you shaking?" I asked. "You didn't do anything wrong except climb onto the counter. Remus or I'll get the high ones,"

"Aren't you mad?" Harry asked, raising a green eye to study my face, but avoid my eyes. "I did something bad…"

Before I knew it there was boiling fury raging inside of me. "Harry, listen, you did nothing wrong," I said, kneeling down so I was level with him. "We'll help you with the groceries, how does that sound?"

"B—but I—I'm supposed to--"

"Harry let me ask you a question," said Remus, joining me at Harry's level. "Who is currently in charge here?"

"You are, sir,"

"That's right. So we're going to put these away together. Got it?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Harry, one more thing,"

Harry looked up innocently.

"Don't call me 'sir'; I'm not that old,"

"Nah, but you sure do act like it," I said, punching him lightly on the shoulder and winking at Harry, who smiled for the first time.

* * *

We had finished putting groceries away and were now sitting in Mrs. Figg's living room trying to figure out what to do. 

"Does she have any fun games?" I asked.

"No," Harry replied.

"What about cards?" Remus asked.

"No,"

"Children's books?" I tried, though I expected not.

"Probably not," _And it seems I guessed right..._

"Adult books?"

"I don't know,"

"Photo albums,"

"She's got one of her cats," Harry answered, scratching his head.

"No." Remus answered quickly before sneezing. "I hate cats," he muttered and Harry and I both laughed a little.

"Well if Remus here can't handle the cat fur perhaps we should go somewhere," I suggested. Harry's face lit up with excitement. "Do you have any ideas Harry?"

"Well…I like the park," he admitted shyly. "But I can only go if Dudley goes, so we can't go,"

"That's ridiculous," Remus said. "Your cousin is at the movies, I think it's safe to say you can go to the park,"

"But Uncle Vernon doesn't like me to get things that Dudley doesn't," Harry was beginning to pale and sweat. "I don't want him to get mad."

"He won't get mad if he doesn't know," I said slyly. "It'll be our secret. How does that sound?"

"A secret? Am I allowed to have one of those?"

I felt like I'd just be hit with a bat bogey hex.

* * *

We finally persuaded Harry that he could go to the park and that nobody would ever find out. He had nearly burst into tears at one point which put both Remus and me into an overly protective mood. 

When we got to the playground Harry immediately headed for a bench and sat down, watching some other children play. Remus and I exchanged looks.

"Harry, come here," Remus said, taking Harry by the hand and bringing him over to the swing set. He picked Harry up and put him on a swing.

"I'm not supposed to--"

"Harry, is sitting on that bench what you do when you come her with your aunt and uncle?" I asked. I had never seen Harry at the park with them and I figured this might be why. I hadn't looked on the benches.

"Yes, I'm supposed to let other kids have the swings,"

"What if there are no other kids?"

"I have to stay on the bench in case some show up later. I don't want to make anybody have to go home because they can't have their favorite swing,"

Remus said nothing, just gave Harry a tiny push and the swing started moving and Harry tried to stifle a laugh. "Was that a laugh I heard?" I asked, trying to come up with ways to get back at Petunia and Vernon Dursley.

"Maybe," Harry giggled as the swing came back past me and Remus pushed him again. "Higher!"

* * *

We brought Harry back to Mrs. Figg's house around four. I had never seen someone so entertained with a swing for so long before. It was good to see Harry smile, though slightly upsetting that he could stay happy on a single swing for so long. 

"Where on earth have you three been?" Mrs. Figg nearly shrieked as we walked through the doorway. Harry's smile evaporated and he immediately returned to looking at the floor. "Did you drag these two off somewhere, young man? Well?"

"Sorry Mrs. Figg…" Harry muttered, his hair hiding his face from view. I glared at Mrs. Figg, though she gave me a glare of equal measure right back.

"It was just a bit of fun," I muttered. "Never been on a _swing_ before…honestly…" Harry let out a small giggle.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, _auntie_," I replied in a sickly sweet voice.

"That's what I thought,"

"Well, thanks for a great day, Harry," Remus said, ruffling Harry's hair. "We'll see you later, auntie. C'mon Keena,"

"But I--"

"Say goodbye, we've got to _go_," Remus jerked his head a little.

"Oh alright," I sighed in defeat. "Bye you two,"

I resisted the urge to give Harry what most likely would have been his first remembered hug and we left. Remus led the way, walking at a quick pace.

"Why didn't we floo?" I asked suddenly. "Not that I mind the exercise and all,"

"We can't floo to the home of the lovely Dursley family now can we?" Remus replied.

"Are you being possessed by James and Sirius at the same time? I've never seen that sort of gleam in your eye," I asked, grinning. "What shall we do to the happy family? Rot their eyes out? Turn them into toes?"

"You sound medieval,"

"Well, they did have some pretty cool methods for the aggravating muggle,"

"I was thinking of reporting all this to Dumbledore. I want to know what he has to say,"

"Can we turn them into bats first? Wait…not bats, I hate bats…toads! We'll turn the buggers to toads!" I said, clapping my hands excitedly.

"We can't turn them into anything without a warrant," Remus replied, though he couldn't hide a smile. "We don't need a warrant to threaten them, though,"

"Brilliant," I replied as we began heading up the driveway to await the return of one Vernon Dursley and his adoring wife and son.

We opened the door using _Alohomora _and waited just inside, opening a window to listen for the sound of crunching gravel. The three pulled into the driveway not ten minutes later.

"What time did you tell Mrs. Figg again, Pet?" a large man with a bristling mustache asked the railway thin Petunia as they headed for the front door.

"She doesn't expect me for another two hours. We can have a nice home cooked family dinner for once." She answered.

"Well I don't know about _nice_," I whispered to Remus.

"Depends on your point of view," he whispered back.

* * *

**Yay! Another completed chapter! Thanks once again for reading! And thanks to those who review! Until the 17****th**

**:-D**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Teaching Lessons

**Wow…chapter 17…and still, I own nothing…**

**Thanks once again to my reviewers! Hopefully this chapter will answer a few questions! Enjoy!**

The front door opened and Mr. Dursley entered, his back to us, as he removed the keys from the handle. Mrs. Dursley ushered Dudley in, who was complaining about wanting nothing but an ice cream for dinner.

"Now, Dudders, don't you want to be strong and healthy when you grow up?" Petunia said distractedly and not noticing our presence in the living room as she went towards the kitchen.

"No! I want ice-cream!" he shouted.

"Y'know, Keena, if I had ever screamed like that I'd be sent to my room with no dinner, let alone dessert," Remus said quite loudly.

"Really? I'd be given some sort of cooked vegetable before being sent to my room for the night," I answered equally loud.

The three Dursleys wheeled around, Dudley and Petunia shrieked, and Vernon gave a yell, trying to force his family back outside.

"I don't think so," Remus muttered, locking the door with a discreet spell. "You've promised us all a nice, quiet family dinner, remember?" _I didn't know he could sound so…mean…hee hee…_

"Yes, but since Dudley here doesn't seem to want anything but sweets, perhaps we should keep this an adult conversation," I said, smiling sweetly at the already rounded boy. The three of them just stared at us. "It wasn't a suggestion," I added, losing my false smile.

Petunia jumped and gave Dudley a push towards the stairs. I had never seen someone waddle so fast.

"This is an illegal intrusion! I demand that you leave at once!" Vernon seemed to have gotten over his initial shock and probably didn't consider someone as thin as Remus a real threat. "I will call the police!"

"I'm with the police," I stated. It was technically true; I was with law enforcement, just not the muggle police.

"Then I'd like to see a warrant!"

"We don't need a warrant. Why don't you sit down so we can explain why we're here," Remus suggested.

"No warrant? Then get out! As for sitting, this is my own house and I shall sit where I like!"

"Fine!" I shouted back. "Then explain to us why Harry has never had the pleasure of using a swing?"

"What does that fr—boy have to do with anything?" Petunia asked abruptly.

"Oh please, you think we'd send him to this world without someone checking in on him now and again?" I asked. Their faces paled.

"By the looks of your faces, I'd guess that would be a no," Remus said, frowning.

"You're both…both…" Petunia stuttered.

"What? Freaks? I assure you, we are not nearly as bastardly or as bitchy as you both are to that boy," I assured the two of them.

"No, you're both _familiar_,"

"From where?" Vernon asked.

"The pictures mother and father had of my stupid sister's wedding,"

"Don't you ever call Lily 'stupid'," Remus spat. "She was a sweet, young mother and you're lucky to be able to have called her your sister,"

"If she was so smart, then how did she end up with a loser of a husband and get themselves blown up?"

Remus cracked. He whipped his wand out and aimed it at her head. "Don't talk about things you don't know," he whispered.

"Remus," I muttered, taking his arm and lowering his wand. "What happened to not turning them into toads?"

"Screw the niceties, these people are insane! Why on earth didn't you take Harry?"

"You could've taken him?" Vernon asked, shocked. "You sent him to us; hardworking citizens and you could've taken him?"

"I couldn't've. I'm not a blood relative. Unfortunately for him, that means he stays with you. However, if you ever mistreat him again, you shall find yourselves green and warty." I threatened.

"I have never laid one hand on the boy! I give him rules and chores and he follows them! If he doesn't, he is punished! Go ahead and report us to Child Abuse, but you won't gain anything except for more time in his cupboard for him!"

"A cupboard?" Remus yelled.

"Yes, what are you going to do about it?"

Remus didn't have time to reply, for I had stepped forward and punched Mr. Vernon Dursley, square in the nose, in front of his wife. There was a satisfying crunch as he gave a yell and she shrieked. Holding his face with his hand, he glared at me.

"That is a warning. If you ever cause Harry trouble ever again, you will need more than a simple healing spell," I said through gritted teeth. I gave a tiny flick with my wand and his nose was back to normal. "Have a nice dinner," I said, heading for the door, Remus following me closely.

* * *

"You probably shouldn't have fixed his nose," Remus said as I sat down at the kitchen table. He began pulling things out of the fridge. "Any preferences?" 

"Pasta…I need pasta…" I could practically hear him roll his eyes. Pasta calmed me down. "At least I didn't scare the crap out of him with my wand. I bet he soiled his pants," I said, smiling at Remus.

"You know how I get around this time of the month," he muttered, turning a faint tint of red. "Which reminds me, did my potion come in yet?" I shook my head. "Damn, why do they always cut it so close?"

"I dunno, maybe they like the suspense?" As I had thought, the Wolfsbane Potion I made Remus go and test those years ago had been the one to lessen his werewolf transformations.

He growled in aggravation as a reply.

"No sense in getting all worked up about it," I said defensively. "I'm more worried about what would happen if Dumbledore found out about our visit,"

Just then there was a knock on the door. Frowning, I stood and went over to look through the peephole. I sighed defeatedly and looked back at Remus before opening the door.

"Sir, how do you always know when to show up?"

"Well, when magic is used in a high security area, I tend to figure it out, especially when it's a spell to fix a broken nose,"

"He deserved it," I muttered.

"I'm positive you're right." He said, his blue eyes twinkling. "And you'll both be happy to hear I only modified their memories in the slightest. All they remember is being scared out of their minds and that you've threatened to turn them into toads if their treatment of a certain young Potter doesn't improve,"

"So I'm not in trouble for hitting?" I asked, grinning childishly.

"No, not this time," he answered.

"Alright! Then would you like to stay for dinner?" I asked, skipping over to Remus to help, tripping over the rug as I went.

"Away from the stove," Remus said as I reached to turn it on high to boil the water.

"Yes sir," I said, obediently and going back over to my seat at the table.

"I'm afraid I can't tonight, I have some paperwork to fill out before the school year begins. That is, actually why I'm here in the first place. You see, I'm in need of a substitute DADA teacher. Professor Quirrell has left for a tour around the world. He plans on spending a full year in North America, South America, and Africa and somewhere in Europe, just not Britain. I thought perhaps you might be interested, Keena,"

"Me? Teach? I don't know sir, what if they laugh at me?"

"It wouldn't be anything new,"

"Moony! You wound me!"

"It's true, though. I think you should try it. You won't be an Auror forever,"

"But then you'd be here all alone," I muttered.

"Like I said, you won't be an Auror forever," he repeated, giving a sad smile. "I'm going to have to get used to living alone in a few years anyway,"

"Well, Miss McIntosh, what do you say?"

I thought for a moment, staring out the window that was over the sink. "Sure you'll be alright, Rem?"

"Positive,"

"…I'll do it,"

"Wonderful! I will see you on the morning of September first. Have a good night," without another word, Dumbledore headed to the fireplace and flooed back to Hogwarts.

"What on earth did I just agree to?"

"I'm sure it will be fine,"

"This is going to be so odd…teaching! Well, at least the Weasley twins aren't there yet,"

Remus laughed. "I feel bad for whoever gets them for their first year,"

"I feel bad for who gets them their last year…actually, I think I'll be laughing with those two at that point," I said thoughtfully.

"It won't be me will it?"

"Why would I spoil the surprise?"

"Because you're my housemate and only other remaining Marauder in the whole wide world?"

"That's not true,"

"Not the point,"

"You'll just have to wait and see,"

* * *

September first came and I was a nervous wreck. 

_What was I thinking? I don't know how to teach! Or control a bunch of teenagers high on hormones…!_

I had arrived at ten o'clock as Dumbledore had instructed and was now sitting in my office. It was completely empty and boring looking at the moment. Dumbledore had said that it would 'fill itself' once it had gotten to know me.

I leaned back in my chair, put my feet up on my desk, and rubbed my face.

"I need a Calming Draught," I muttered.

"And some decorations," I jumped and fell out of my chair and Snape sneered. "So you got the position then?" he added, not bothering to help me up.

"Got to put a cushion back there," I muttered to myself.

"Did you hear me?" he snapped.

"Of course I heard you," I snapped back. "I was a bit preoccupied." I heaved myself off the floor and set my chair strait. "Can I help you or did you just come to complain about how awful of a teacher I'm going to be?"

"There is a faculty meeting in the staff room that is beginning shortly. Dumbledore requested you arrive early,"

"So why didn't he come and get me?"

"I had to come past your office in any case, so the headmaster requested I come and get you," Snape said, coming farther into the room to look around the empty shelves. "Also I wanted to warn you we haven't had a stable teacher here since 1981,"

"Really? Well, I don't plan on being a stable teacher; I'm Quirrell's substitute until he gets back," I answered, trying to sound uninterested. _Hope I don't get hit by the DADA teacher curse too…

* * *

_

The Great Hall was empty save for the teachers at the head table. The night sky was clear and starry tonight as I gazed up at it, resting my head in my hands. I was sitting on Dumbledore's left and on my right, to our mutual displeasure, was Snape. I had the feeling Dumbledore wanted us to reconcile or something. Fat chance.

"So, Sev," I said casually, turning towards the man who had jumped when I had addressed him. "Any trouble makers I want to watch out for?"

"If they're not in Slytherin, they're already doing something wrong," he muttered. Dumbledore, who was conversing with Flitwick a few seats away, didn't hear him.

"So I ought to punish by house? Didn't you tell me that you'd never do that in…oh God…first year wasn't it?"

"I don't recall ever holding a civil conversation with anyone in your house, least of all your year,"

"All those potions must be going to your head," I laughed, punching him lightly in the shoulder just to see his reaction. He looked mortified that I'd touched him. "C'mon, aren't we supposed to at least give off the impression that we're on…okay terms in front of Dumbles?" I whispered. He glared then turned away, but I swear I saw the smallest of smiles at the word 'Dumbles'.

"I suppose…"

Just then the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and students began pouring in. I immediately noted who the head boy and girl were. One was Charlotte McSimmons of Ravenclaw from what I had been told and the other was Bill Weasley. They were standing at the entrance watching for any pre-feast excitement (or trouble as McGonagall had put it). She was a pretty, tall brunette with glasses and was immersed in her duty. Bill was taller than when I had seen him last (about a year ago in Diagon Alley in passing, though he didn't recognize me). His hair went just past his chin and he was constantly trying to brush it out of his face. He was laughing with some other boy who had sandy blonde hair and Charlotte kept shooting annoyed glances at him.

Finally all the students had sat down and were talking with one another. One or two students pointed in the direction of the staff table but no one really seemed to notice I was there. Then the doors to the Great Hall opened once more and McGonagall marched in the terrified first years. It was a completely different view. Watching the sorting from the house table hadn't been that big of a deal. It was fun to make fun of the first years who were about to wet themselves as their heads darted around, looking for something familiar. But sitting as a teacher, I felt slightly sorry for them. Honestly, it was just a hat!

The sorting began with the traditional singing then McGonagall began calling them up one by one to put the hat on. The last one to be sorted was "Weasley, Percy" who was immediately elected to Gryffindor. As soon as he sat down, Dumbledore stood and the hall fell silent.

"To new students, welcome! To old students, welcome back! And, to start off announcements, welcome back to an old student and new professor, Professor McIntosh will be filling the Defense Against the Dark Arts position until Professor Quirrell returns from his world long trip," I smiled at the students and gave a little wave as they clapped politely. "A few quick ones, then we can start to fill our tummies. Firstly, if you would like to sign up for Quidditch, please go to the captain of your house to find out when try-outs are. Secondly, Mr. Filch has updated his list of forbidden objects; I suggest you check that out! Thirdly, the term 'Forbidden Forest' is not a misnomer. Lastly, enjoy your meal and may this year be a good one," The hall erupted into applause and the food appeared on the tables.

The feast ended rapidly and the students were dismissed. McGonagall called for the teachers to wait a moment so that she could hand out our timetables. It turned out that tomorrow morning I would be having my first lesson with second year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. My schedule rotated on a three-day course so I saw everyone at least once a week. _I need Moony…this is more confusing than it was in my first first year…_

**Well that's the end of chapter 17! Please review! Thanks for reading! I'll update as soon as I can with chapter 18!**

**:-D**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Old Friends

**Disclaimed. Enjoy!**

Three…two…one…The bell rang and I could hear the students chattering inside the classroom. I took a deep breath before coming out of my empty office. The students' loud chatter subdued to excited whispers. I headed strait for my already cluttered desk and began wishing I had Lily's or even Remus' talent for organization. My desk looked like a hurricane had hit.

"Attendance list…attendance list…" I muttered shuffling through papers looking for the right attendance list. "You're all second years in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, right?" I asked without looking up, still searching in vain for the list. Several students replied 'yes' to my question and I nodded. "AHA!" I shouted in triumphant and I looked up at the sound of a chair falling. One of the Gryffindors had jumped at my sudden exclamation. "You alright?" I called.

"M'fine, Professor!" the boy called as he picked up his chair.

"Alright," I began taking attendance.

The class went on without a glitch and the bell rang fairly quickly.

"No homework tonight! I'm a firm believer in that the first day of school there should be no extra work than to wake up in the morning," some of the Ravenclaws looked slightly put out but the rest of the students cheered. "One down, six to go,"

* * *

"And there's the bell," I called over the classroom of chating seventh years. I noticed that the students had segregated themselves by house just as my year had done in every NEWT class. "So, the final year at Hogwarts. Who here is already of age?" all but a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin raised their hands. "Take advantage of the ease of the beginning months, the NEWT tests…well, they suck. Breaking down when you misspell a spell on homework, waking up to find out you have a pop quiz in your first class of the day, staying up till your alarm goes off the next morning…" 

Some of the students groaned. "Already had the NEWTs speech?"

"You should've heard McGonagall," Bill Weasley muttered. A few people sniggered.

"I'll wager Snape'll be the worst," I replied, smiling. "Mickey's test wasn't as horrible as she made it sound,"

"You had McGonagall?" a student in the back blurted out.

"Are you calling me old?"

"No, Professor…I just thought McGonagall only started here just over eleven years ago…"

"I'm only twenty-eight, so I would've had her eleven years ago. Besides, she's been working here for over twenty years. Calling me old is like calling Professor Snape old, only I won't give you detention…today."

"Professor Snape doesn't seem to like you," a Ravenclaw girl stated. "Did you two know each other at school?"

"Yeah, you should ask him what he thought of my friends," I said laughing.

"What did you do to him?" several students inquired.

"A little of this a little of that…" I said evenly. "Though it's probably us you have to thank for having such a bitter old bat," I added thoughtfully.

"Would you tell us? Please?" a sandy haired Gryffindor sitting next to Bill asked.

"Hm…I don't know. What's in it for me?"

"I'll be an 'O' student, I swear!"

"You can't even scrape an 'E'," another student laughed as the bell rang.

"Oops, we didn't do anything! Okay, everybody review everything you've learned since first year! We'll practice non-verbals next class!" I shouted over the scraping of chairs. "And Mr. Weasley, I'd like a word," Bill shrugged off his friends before coming over to my desk.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Don't you 'yes professor' me and sound all innocent and crap, lemme look at you!" I said, running around the desk and giving a shocked Bill a hug.

"Uh…Professor?"

"Wha—? Oh sorry! God I haven't seen you in so long, no wonder you don't remember me," He just raised an eyebrow as I ranted. "You seriously don't remember me?" he shook his head. "I guess the last time we had a conversation was when you were ten at Christmas, remember? Sirius, Orion, Nickie and I all came over to your house. You and Percy were fighting over who would get the door! It was so cute,"

He squinted at me a little before comprehension dawned on his face. "Keena! Oh it's so good to see you! Sorry, but I was ten seven years ago,"

"Your mom must adore your hair," I smirked.

"She came at me with a pair of scissors my last night at home. Thankfully I've got a friend whose girlfriend isn't to be caught without her beauty magazines. Found a hair lengthening spell that'll last until I don't want it any longer,"

"So, about those stories of Snape…have any friends who would enjoy pulling a prank for me?"

* * *

My feet dragged as I made my way for the Great Hall. _Maybe I can make morning classes into study halls…_ I thought vaguely as I entered. It was the second week of school and I had started grading papers. The Ravenclaws gave me mostly factual reports, the Hufflepuffs mostly opinionated, both were fine with me. Opinions were easy to grade (I only really looked to see they had the right idea) and facts…well, it's just fact. The Slytherins, however, were usually deeply immersed in the subject or they had no idea what they were doing. I couldn't grade someone wrong if they gave me a gory description of the effects of the Unforgivables, for example. The Gryffindors had no set standards. Either they got it or they were confused by it, though they were rarely ignorant. 

I entered the Great Hall and made my way to the staff table, yawning as I sat down between McGonagall and Professor Sprout.

"Late night grading papers?" Sprout asked, smiling warmly.

"Every night is a late night grading papers. I think I'll just stop assigning them," I muttered.

"Not so easy being on this end is it Keena?" McGonagall asked.

"Professor, never did I think this job was easy. Especially when you had James and Sirius as students. In fact I still don't see why we make the work harder by assigning three foot long essays in the second week to fifth years,"

"How else will they prepare for their O.W.Ls?"

"Pay attention in class. They seem to have fun with it anyway,"

Suddenly there was a loud bang on the opposite end of the staff table. A few girls screamed and there was a yell. I leaned over my plate to try and get a look at what had happened when I found my chair being wrenched out from behind me. On instinct, I leapt up with my wand on the defensive only to double over with laughter at the look Snape was giving me. Gails of laughter erupted from behind me and I even heard McGonagall turn a chuckle into a cough.

"Set me right," he growled, holding me up by my cloak.

"Now, now, Professor, no fighting in the Great Hall," I said, attempting (and failing) to sober my laughter. He released his grip from my cloak, but not his glare. "And I'm afraid I can't help you. I don't know what spell hit you and unless you saw the culprit you'll have to research an answer yourself."

"Don't give me that! You and your friends pulled the same thing on me years ago!" he was really accomplished at yelling without being above a whisper. I had to give him kudos for his efforts.

"Did we? What year was that?"

"It doesn't matter! I want it fixed now!"

"I dunno, Sev, the fluorescent pink hair and neon blue makeup really does look stunning on you. Oh and I do enjoy the neon green lipstick,"

Snape glared at me a moment more before sweeping out of the Great Hall, shooting horrible glares at anyone who dared look at him. The doors to the hall slammed behind him and I could hear him stomping away. Once no one could hear his steps, the entire hall burst with laughter (with the exception of the Slytherins, who looked devastated). It was then that Dumbledore chose to stand up and the hall fell silent once more.

"Anyone wish to come clean here and now?" _Wonder if he'll suspect a Ravenclaw… _Bill had recommended that I talk to Charlie Stone, a seventh year Ravenclaw with the wonderful combination that Remus had: wit and humor. Stone looked up at Dumbledore as innocently as the rest of the hall. It was very impressive. _Maybe I'll mentor him in the art of mischief… _"If anyone has any idea as to who caused this, please tell me."

The hall stared at him for a minute longer before a Slytherin seventh year called out "Professor McIntosh must know! She's the one who told the N.E.W.T. class about what kind of troubles she and her friends got up to here!" I turned my gaze to the Slytherin then looked around the hall to find many faces turning in my direction.

I gave a small laugh before turning to Dumbledore. "Well, I know when I'm caught. I suppose I'm a bit rusty," I said with a smile, which Dumbledore returned.

"Well, I can't give you a detention. And there is no lasting damage correct?"

"Aside from the fact I don't know a counter curse? No there is no lasting damage. Luckily I do know the person with the counter curse,"

* * *

Potions classes were delayed until Remus was able to arrive at Hogwarts, which was just after lunch. He knocked on the door to my classroom, which currently contained my seventh years. The room was silent as they practiced there non-verbal spells. I had them using some of the sixth year magic that they had learned the previous June; so many faces were turning blue. 

"Smithens, you still need to breathe!" I shouted to a Hufflepuff who was now purple. "If you don't breathe your brain won't be able to handle the stress of non-verbal magic and I don't want anyone to pass out. I told you sixth year non-verbals were harder," I added as Remus knocked on the door again. "Come in," I said, still looking at Smithens to make sure he returned to a normal color.

"Why aren't some of them breathing?" Remus asked, standing next to me and looking around.

"Sixth year non-verbals," I replied and his mouthed 'Oh'. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well. You obviously are having too much fun though if you're already jinxing Snape," he muttered. A Slytherin threw a dirty glare over when she thought I wasn't looking.

"Miss Rocha, is there a problem?"

"No, professor,"

"Would you care to explain why you made such a face in my direction? I consider it rude,"

"Sorry, professor,"

"Anyway," I said, turning back to Remus. "There is no such thing as too much fun,"

"Isn't it a little unprofessional of you?"

"Maybe," I said shrugging. "But dear old Sev will always be an old friend from school first and foremost. Have you fixed him yet?"

"I looked in the Potions room but he wasn't there so I came here,"

"Liar,"

"Maybe, maybe I'm not,"

Suddenly there was an explosion in the back of the room.

"I'm alright!" Bill shouted, though all we could see was a thumbs-up coming from behind a desk.

"Bill, I am so sorry!" Casey Williams, the sandy haired boy that had sat next to Bill on the first day, was saying repeatedly.

"You sure you're alright Bill?" I called.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Alright, that being said," I walked over to Casey and pulled him to the front of the class. "I think Casey deserves a round of applause. He is the first out of all of you to unsuccessfully produce sixth year magic non-verbally!"

Casey blushed and Remus said "Don't worry about it; she didn't even get an explosion. It was more like a puff of smoke on her first try,"

"Well, I'm sorry that I couldn't knock Sirius out so that he could've been sent to the hospital wing with James,"

"I didn't mean to knock him out!"

"And I didn't mean to get a puff of smoke!"

"Um…Professor?"

"Yes Bill?"

"Can I go to the hospital wing?" He was supporting a broken arm.

"Oh, sorry! Casey, bring him up and tell Pomfrey what happened. Don't worry; she won't jump down your throat for a broken arm,"

Remus rolled his eyes as the bell rang.

**That's the end of this chapter! Sorry it took me so long to update! I've been really busy with school and stuff! Thanks once more to my reviewers! I hope you'll continue to honor me with your opinions and comments of encouragement! Until Chapter 19!**

**:-D**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Christmas Time Again

**Disclaimer.**

**Sorry this took so long! I've been super busy! Anyway, onward with the show!

* * *

**

Once more the hall burst out in laughter and applause as the Slytherins returned to their seats, glaring up at the staff table. I smiled at the hall, winking at Stone who was stowing his wand away. Dumbledore held up a hand and the hall fell silent, though no one stopped smiling.

"Do I need to ask?"

"Professor McIntosh," the hall chorused.

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid that this time I will have to ask you to come to my office, Professor," The smiles that had littered the hall began fading.

"When sir?" I asked my own smile a tad smaller.

"Now,"

"Alright," the two of us stood up and headed out of the great hall.

"Professor?" some of the students whispered as we walked past.

Dumbledore came to a halt once we had reached the doors leading out of the hall. "Have a Happy Christmas to those of you returning home," and with that he closed the doors and we went to his office.

"Now," he said, taking a seat behind his desk. "I think that this trip down memory lane should end here," the twinkle in his eye had not yet disappeared so I knew I was fine.

"My trip down memory lane ended about two months ago, sir," I replied, smiling. "It appears that one or more of the students have taken to the art of mischief,"

"Do you have any ideas as to who has been pranking lately?"

"Depends on the prank. Some students ask me for help and some just do it on their own,"

"I have noticed that most of these pranks are repeats that you and your friends played out during your years here. Do you tell stories in your classes?"

"Nope," I said. I was innocent when I said it too. Students came to me after class.

"Keena, you can't keep helping them with these,"

"Well, I haven't seriously helped them since mid-November. They seemed to have picked it up on their own."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Did it?"

"No,"

"Then no, it wasn't supposed to make you feel better sir,"

"Do you know why they blame you?"

"Because I can't get detention, I think."

"Hm…I've noticed you don't give detentions either,"

"They don't misbehave in my class, sir,"

"Nor in the hallways?"

"I don't often use the same hallways as they do sir,"

"I see,"

"You're not gonna fire me, Professor, are you?"

"No, but perhaps that is what should be done. In front of the students in any case,"

"I couldn't do that to them sir,"

"Something must be done to stop these pranks,"

"I'll talk to my classes sir, see if I can't get the message through,"

"And if it doesn't?"

"I'm sure it will,"

"Alright, I'll leave this in your hands for a while. Have a good Christmas and say hello to Remus for me,"

"Yes sir,"

* * *

"Moony!" I yelled, stepping out of the fireplace. "Are you home?"

"I'm in the living room!"

I ran to the room and pounced on the vacant couch. "So, did ya miss me?"

"You mean over the week long period that I haven't seen you since you pranked all the Slytherins so that they were stuck singing Beatles songs? Then yes, I missed you,"

"Maybe you should just tell me all the counter curses,"

"I'm surprised Dumbledore hasn't fired you yet,"

"I haven't been doing the pranking,"

"Liar,"

"No, it's true! I'm just doing my job,"

"What's that?"

I gave an evil grin. "Teaching,"

Remus shook his head, putting down the book he was reading. He stood up and headed for the hallway. "Where're you going?" I called. My muggle coat came zooming at me as a reply.

"We haven't been by to see Harry in a while. I thought we should drop by," I noticed as he pocketed his wand.

"Do you expect trouble?"

"I'd like to think not,"

"You'd _like_ to think not? What d'you mean 'like'?"

"In all reality, the wand is to keep you restrained." He replied.

"Why on earth would I need the restraining?"

He ignored my question and held open the door as a response. About an inch of snow lay on the road and sidewalks outside and I spotted a plow truck not too far away as we walked along. About two feet of snow was blanketing the front lawns of the houses on the Dursley's street. A wet droplet hit my nose and I looked up as we neared number 4, Privet Drive.

"Hey, it's snowing!"

"It does tend to do that in the winter," Remus observed.

"Oh, you're so funny, Mr. Moony,"

"I learned from the best," he answered, bowing.

Taking advantage of the moment, I shoved him into a mound of snow that someone had shoveled into a neat pile at the end of their driveway. Before I was able to truly enjoy the image of Remus' head stuck in a pile of snow he made his way out and chucked me into the white fluff.

"Remus!"

"What? You did it first!"

"But it's cold!"

"It's snow."

"So?"

"Snow is cold,"

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed before helping me up.

"What in the blazes is going on out here?" we turned around to find ourselves facing a festively cherry red Vernon Dursley. "Do you know how long it took to shovel this up?"

"Nope," I said honestly. "Don't you remember us?" I asked after a moment.

One would think that he would remember Remus and me from our last visit. He glared at us for a moment before his tiny eyes widened so that they looked normal for once. He immediately began stuttering.

"Th—the boy is fine. I'll…um; I'll just send him out here, then," he waddled into his house and we heard a yell from behind the closed door. The door was opened briefly and Harry was pushed outside with a light jacket before the door was slammed closed again.

"Well, that was interesting," I muttered. "Did you visit while I was gone?"

"Perhaps," he muttered back. Meanwhile, Harry had not taken any notice of us and had picked up a shovel far too large for his size. He began clearing the driveway of the newest arrivals of snow (only a centimeter high at this point). "Oh, Merlin," Remus muttered.

"They're making him shovel? Can't say I'm surprised," I said in a monotone.

"I've got an idea," Remus said suddenly.

"Was I supposed to be thinking of one?"

"Just follow along,"

"Alright, Rem, you've got the floor," I said, bowing.

"I thought I told you not to lose the map!" I jumped as Remus yelled.

"What the Hell are you talking about?" I replied, purely confused.

"The map to get us to Aunt's house," he jerked his head in Harry's direction a little. I looked over to see a stunned Harry in the middle of disposing of a shovel full of snow. "You know, _that_ map,"

"OH! Well, I wouldn't have needed a map if you had just let me drive instead of us walking!"

"That would be a waste!"

"Do you want to know what a waste is?"

"What?"

I bent down and scooped up a handful of snow before throwing it at him. "That was a waste of a perfectly good snowball." I answered, grinning.

He didn't answer, just picked up some snow and tossed it at me. I dodged, gathering more snow and 'missing' Remus while hitting Harry (lightly) in the back.

"Well? Are you going to just take that? Throw one at her!" Harry looked torn between running inside and picking up a snowball.

"C'mon! Show me what you got!" I cried playfully. Hesitating, Harry picked up some snow in his ungloved hands before chucking it at Remus.

"Me?" Remus cried while I burst out laughing.

"You shouldn't pick on girls," Harry reprimanded.

"That's right! What kind of gentleman are you, Remus?"

He rolled his eyes while walking over to Harry. "I've got something you might like," Harry raised his eyebrows as Remus handed him a pair of green mittens from inside his pocket. "It's cold out here, you should wear these,"

"Oh no, sir, I couldn't," Harry replied taking a step back, the playful atmosphere slipping away.

"Yes you could, it's a Christmas present! Tell you what, I'll get you a matching scarf and hat and then you'll have a full set," I promised. Harry looked skeptical. "Please? It would be rude if you didn't accept a gift," I added, winking. Harry's face split into a huge grin.

"Well, Aunt Petunia doesn't like it when I'm rude…"

"Good, close your eyes," he covered his eyes in his gloved hands and I transfigured some snow into a fuzzy hat and scarf. "Open 'em,"

His eyes rounded when he saw what I was holding. "How did you do that?"

"Well, I'll tell you but it's a secret. Can you keep a secret?" He nodded eagerly. I bent down and whispered in his ear, "I'm really good friends with Santa Clause,"

"Santa Clause?"

"Yep, we know Father Christmas himself," Remus nodded in confirmation. "And he wanted you to have those early because it's no fun playing in the snow when you're cold,"

"Wow, thanks!" he beamed.

"You're welcome," I said, ruffling his already messy hair as he went to put his new hat on.

"Oh, and Mrs. Figg's house is that way," Harry said pointing. "Have a Happy Christmas!"

"You too, Harry," Remus said. We began walking away but we turned when we heard the door open.

"Ha—Harry, come in now, it's getting late," Mrs. Dursley called from the door. My eyes hit hers and I knew she got the message. Harry was going to get to keep his presents.

* * *

"REMUS!" I yelled, bursting in through his door.

"Keena, what the bloody hell time is it?"

"Christmas time! Come on, get up, we're going to Nickie and Orion's place, remember?"

"No, I don't remember,"

"Oh…" I paused. "Remember now?"

"Fine, I'm getting up,"

"Good, we've got to be there in an hour,"

…An hour later…

"Orion! Keena and Remus are here!" Nickie shouted as Remus and I came out of the fireplace. They lived in a comfortably sized cottage with their six-year-old daughter, Alexis. "Happy Christmas guys," she said, gesturing for us to sit at the table.

"Happy Christmas to you as well, Nickie," Remus replied and I nodded.

"Where's Alexis? We brought a present,"

"She's still in her room changing. She came out this morning wearing a neon pink t-shirt and a pair of yellow shorts on. She insists on getting dressed by herself now,"

"Well, she's a big girl now, mum, don't you know?" I said laughing.

"Auntie Keena! Uncle Remus!" a small voice shouted before a mass of curly red hair came flying at us. Alexis had ringlets of red hair and bright blue eyes along with a splash of freckles on her nose. She was now wearing a long sleeved red shirt and a green jumper.

"Happy Christmas, sweetie," I said bending over to hug her.

Just then there was a knock at the door and Alexis raced over to it. "Hi Auntie Lexi, Uncle Jeremy, Justin and Lizzie,"

"Hi Alexis," chorused four-year-old Lizzie and six-year-old Justin.

"Happy Christmas everybody," Jeremy called into the house as he ushered his family inside.

"Happy Christmas, all," Nickie replied. "Hold on, I've got to go find Orion, I told him everyone was going to be here," she rushed out of the kitchen in a huff to find her MIA husband. Meanwhile there were flames in the fire, Amanda stepped out with six-year-old DJ, and Damian followed.

"Are we late?" Amanda asked looking around at everybody.

"No, you're right on time," Remus answered.

"Yeah, it's Orion that's late," Jeremy sniggered.

"Oh," Amanda said. "Well, Happy Christmas everyone! DJ, why don't you and the kids go put on your snow gear and play outside?"

"Ok, mum," There was a short frenzy near the door as the children argued over which mitten belonged to who before they went outside to engage in a snowball fight.

"Happy Christmas everyone," Orion said as he walked in the door as the kids headed out. He was levitating firewood. "Where's Nickie?"

"Where were you?" Nickie had come back from her search.

"Getting fire wood," he replied gesturing to the air born wood.

"Oh,"

The eight of us headed into the cozy living room and Orion lit a fire. We shared news before Nickie, Lexi, Amanda and I headed into the kitchen to cook Christmas dinner.

"So, how goes teaching?" Amanda inquired as she passed me a knife so I could peel potatoes.

"It's a lot of fun, actually." I answered, flicking my wand so the potatoes peeled. "Surprisingly most of the kids listen to me. Quite a few come to talk to me after lessons as well,"

"Why? Do they not understand the material?" Lexi asked.

"No, they like to hear stories."

"Should've known you'd make mischief," Nickie muttered, shaking her head.

"You don't tell them how to do things, do you?" Amanda accused.

"I was hired to teach and that's what I do." I smiled.

"And Dumbledore lets you?"

"Well, not anymore. I'm going to talk to my classes once term starts up again. Hopefully I didn't do too good of a job. I think he might fire me,"

"But at this point it wouldn't matter," Lexi said. "You've already set a foundation,"

"I hope so; I'd like to keep my job."

"Well, how bad would it be if you became an auror again? You're still on the reserve list, you know,"

"Yeah I know, but it's a lot of fun pushing Snape's buttons just by being at the staff table with him. You should see the looks I get,"

"You would think he would've gotten over all the stuff you guys all pulled by now," Amanda muttered.

"I bet he takes it out on Gryffindors, right?" Lexi guessed.

"That would be unprofessional and unfounded," Amanda replied, shaking her head.

"Both are Snape-ish qualities," Nickie argued.

"Too true," I agreed.

"No way, I was joking!" Lexi gasped.

"I wasn't," I replied, sighing. "Apparently the guys and I did more damage than we had thought."

"Well, Lily and I were always telling you lot to keep your hands in your pockets, weren't we?"

"Amanda, did you two honestly think we'd stop playing pranks when it caused Lily to give James attention?" I returned.

"No, but I think it made Lily feel better to know she wasn't just sitting on the sidelines like the rest of the house," she stared pointedly at Nickie and Lexi, with a smile hinting on her face.

"We weren't on the sidelines, we were in the audience." Lexi corrected.

"Yeah, do you know how hard it was to get to the sidelines of a good prank? You couldn't pay people to move! I know, I tried," Nickie said as if that closed the matter. "Tell the guys to get the kids, dinner is ready,"

Christmas dinner (or linner as Jeremy and Damian called it as a combination of lunch and dinner) was cherry for all of us. The kids sat at one end of the table trading their own stories while the adults sat at the other end exchanging gossip. After we finished eating and cleaning up the dishes, we all went into the living room. It held a roaring fireplace and a perfect sized Christmas tree with all the children's presents sitting underneath. They opened them with glee and ran around the room giving hugs and saying 'thank-you' to everyone.

Remus and I left around seven. We stopped at our house for about ten minutes to change into muggle wear then took a walk heading for Privet Drive. When we arrived there it was to find the driveway freshly shoveled and the door closed.

"Let's get a closer look," I suggested. He nodded and we walked up the front path to the window to the kitchen. Inside we spotted Harry and the Dursleys sitting and eating their Christmas meal. Harry's plate was nearly empty. Without a word Remus went over to the door and knocked.

"Probably some bloody carolers, Pet, I've got it," we heard Mr. Dursley's voice boom through the house. "Who…is…hello,"

"Hello, Mr. Dursley. We just thought we'd stop by and see how Harry is enjoying his Christmas…snack." Remus said shortly with a falsely cherry smile.

The smile must have seemed less threatening to Mr. Dursley than Remus had intended for he gathered some courage. "You have no business intruding on my family. It's Christmas for God's sake!"

"Funny thing about Christmas is that it _is_ for God's sake. I wonder if you really have any clue of how to treat anybody other than yourself, sir," I answered. "You would do well to remember that Harry is under our protection and that his safety and health are in our hands. We're not playing around here. If you neglect to feed him and cloth him properly you will wake up to find yourself covered with warts and slime. Am I clear?"

"Fine! We will treat him better! Just stay the bloody hell away from us!"

"Thank you, and be sure to tell Harry 'Happy Christmas' from you and your family." Remus said and we turned around and left as the door was slammed shut to our backs.

"Happy Christmas, Moony," I said as I threw a snowball at him at the end of the driveway before he returned the favor.

* * *

**I think that's long enough! Please don't forget to review! Up next is chapter 20! **

**:-D**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: End of Another Year

**Still don't own anything…**

**Violence in this chapter (with wands) and blood (result of wands)!**

**Once again I'm wicked sorry it's taking so long to update lately! There was a question about whether or not Lily and James will have more kids. The answer is no that would be extremely unfair to Harry and to the child because they're still in hiding and no one would know of said child's existence. Hope that cleared some things up for people…now here's chapter twenty! (More like chapter 75 of the whole series but who's counting?) **

The rest of the school year seemed to go by in a breeze. Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup which excited all of the students, McGonagall and myself. I took many opportunities to bother Snape about it and by the end of the NEWT and OWL season I was sure he wanted to hex me. Scratch that. He did.

I was charged with watching the OWL students with Snape after their Dark Arts practical. The reason they needed watching in the first place dated back to our own time at Hogwarts when a fifteen-year-old Harry was knocked out of his proper time by a strange and bizarre accident. The reason Snape and I started arguing this time, however, was genuinely not my fault.

"I should be inside grading papers, not babysitting," he grumbled. I rolled my eyes for the millionth time and considered just walking away but I didn't trust Snape to not hand out detentions for stupid things. "And they shouldn't be in the lake," he added, starting to walk over to the water's edge.

"Severus, it is hot. They are tired. I don't think it'll hurt,"

"I for one do not want to deal with the squid,"

"The squid is harmless,"

"Oh, that's right I forgot. First year, you and your friends took a swim didn't you? Even then you were a bunch of arrogant pin heads."

"We wouldn't have been in the water if someone else's friends hadn't pushed Peter in," I retorted, my blood beginning to rise at once. It was really hot outside and I was in no mood to deal with Snape's stupid antics.

"Well, I could be inside grading papers if someone's friends hadn't decided to attack me one day after our own OWLs!" his voice was rising above his normal fiendish whisper.

"They wouldn't have bothered you had you not started that fight with Malfoy!" Students were starting to stare at us now. Some were even backing away.

"Oh, like you and all your idiot friends hadn't started all the other ones!"

"We never started one! You always said something sarcastic or rude!"

"So you beat me up for it?" At this point the students had given gathered around in a wide circle so they could avoid hexes but still hear our shouting match.

"No, we yelled at you then you took your wand out Snivvy!"

"Don't ever call me that!" he went for his wand so I grabbed mine and we started dueling with wordless magic. He sent a quick succession of orange, red and yellow jets streaming at me while I put up a one-way shield, shooting out blue, red and purple jets. He blocked my curses before sending a violet beam at my shield. It exploded and I flew through the air. Before I could hit the ground I spun myself and did a back flip as my Auror training had taught to do if thrown into the air.

He swore and I took the opportunity to send my own curse at him. It was his turn to go flying and he landed with an unpleasant thump. Before he could gather himself I attempted to relieve him of his wand but he was able to shoot another spell at me causing me to lose my balance. He took the chance and I was blasted over the crowd of students and into the lake. I came up gasping for air only to find I couldn't touch the bottom of the lake. I looked just in time to see three silver beams shooting at me and I swam under water, avoiding the streams. The flashing light above the water's surface stopped and I conjured the water so that all the liquid looked black so I could swim into shore undetected.

Once I was sure I could touch, I leapt out of the water to find Snape yelling at the students to go inside. I took my moment and stunned him in the back. A few girls shrieked as he fell face forward in the water. I walked over to him and turned him over. Apparently I hadn't missed my mark. His face was covered in scratches with one gash that went across his arm. It was then I noted a dull stinging pain in my right side and leg. I looked down to see that my skin was literally smoking and I was charcoal black. I rubbed a hand across my face and looked at it. It was covered in blood.

There was a splashing sound and I looked up to see Charlie Weasley walking towards the unconscious Snape and me. He looked shaken, as did the other students.

"Professor, what just happened?" he asked timidly.

I sighed. "Well, listen closely, because this is likely to be the last thing I ever teach you. You've all just witnessed a duel. Not like the ones you guys all get into, but a real, deadly Wizarding fight. They are, as you can see, violent and unmerciful and often times they are for no good reason. This one, for example, has been building up all year because of experiences Snivvy here and myself have had. This is a first rate example of what the war was like, only no one died today. Course, we weren't aiming to kill one another, and we're lucky we didn't. Every single one of you was in an incredible amount of danger and I apologize for that. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'd better take your professor to Pomfrey. Have a good summer guys," with that I conjured a stretcher and levitated Snape onto it before heading back to the castle. The students, I could hear, followed me at a distance. No doubt they wanted to see what the headmaster would do.

I limped up the stairs and Charlie ran ahead and opened the doors. I nodded my thanks, as the pain in my side began to mount, and continued my way to the Hospital Wing. Several more years began following the parade up to the Hospital Wing, all questioning what had happened. I stopped when I reached the Hospital Wing doors and the students fell silent behind me. With a sigh I pushed the doors open and went inside.

"How many more fights am I going to have to deal with?" Madame Pomfrey was facing in the other direction tending to two Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth years.

"Wow, Professor, what did you guys do?" the young Gryffindor asked, looking appalled. I didn't answer, but pitched forward in a dead faint.

* * *

"Keena? Are you alright?" I moaned in response to the friendly voice. I opened my eyes to find myself in the Hospital Wing, Remus sitting next to my bed. "I don't think you and Snape ever really got rid of your hatred for one another,"

"Brilliant observation," I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my head. "How long?"

"Only a few hours. Snape is still out though. Madame Pomfrey didn't want to try anything in case you did some complicated top secret Auror curse." His lips twitched as he said this.

"I only stunned the bastard." I replied, shaking my head. "Meanwhile he left me for dead in the lake. I'll bet he wanted the squid to get me,"

"A heavy accusation," I looked round to see Dumbledore at the entrance of the wing. "I'll wait until Severus wakes up of course, but this whole ordeal is unacceptable."

"Before you say it, sir, I'll resign. Clearly I can't handle working with a Death Eater,"

"What did you call me?" bad timing for me, as usual.

"You know, full and well what I called you. And you know what you did. No amount of ministry pardonings or how many times Dumbledore says he trusts you will ever change what you did,"

"Keena--"

"No, professor. He is the reason Voldemort even knew about Harry. He is the one who threw the first spell today and the reason so many students were in danger. I don't care if you still trust him, that's fine with me, but leave me out of it. I'm done. All that matters to me is that he admits what a git he has been and I'll leave. End of story. I can still work as an Auror, but I won't work with him." I folded my arms and glared at the ancient headmaster.

Dumbledore looked tired and the everlasting twinkle in his eye was gone. "Very well, I shall see you both at the leaving feast."

Pomfrey released me from the Hospital Wing first. She hadn't been able to fully heal my leg so I was still limping a little. Remus offered to stay but I promised him I wouldn't cause any more fights and told him I'd see him when I arrived home.

"Professor?" I looked around to see Charlie standing behind me uncertainly. "Would you tell me what happened exactly? There are so many rumors and I'd rather not believe them." I just stared at him for a moment before nodding my head and leading him back to my office.

I opened my door and was a little shocked with what I saw. A giant Gryffindor banner covered one wall and another held pictures of friends from the Order along with newspaper clippings from the war. On my desk was a picture of the Marauders as we had once been along with a picture of myself and Sirius holding a baby Harry. There was a shelf of books that I knew held information on any spell Lily, Remus or I had ever invented. Apparently my office finally knew what to fill itself with just in time for me to clean it out again.

"So what rumors are running through the windmill, Charlie?" I asked, sitting down behind my desk and gesturing for him to sit as well.

"Well, there's one that says you and Snape had secretly been seeing each other and had a messy break-up, but I think that ones stupid." Had I been drinking anything I think I may have choked. "There's this other one, though. People are saying you were blind in your first year here and Snape poisoned you in your potions class. But that one can't be true because you can see just fine."

"Actually, I was blind. From my first through my fourth year I had to have somebody follow me around to make sure I didn't get into trouble. Snape didn't poison me, though. I poisoned him with a snake after he tried to attack—a friend of mine." I answered.

"Oh, well there's another rumor (and you're going to laugh at this one) that Dumbledore sacked you! How ridiculous is that? I mean, Snape started the whole thing anyway,"

"I haven't been sacked, Charlie, I quit." The smile that was on his face disappeared at once. "I just can't handle being around Snape and this school. It brings back a lot of memories. One day, sure, I'll be back, just not right now."

"You can't seriously leave! Everyone knows Dumbledore has a thing for second chances!"

"Well, the way I see it, I'm running on my sixth chance. Maybe my seventh," I replied.

"But you're the best Defense teacher we've ever had! You can't quit on us,"

"I'm sure Dumbledore will find someone suitable for the job,"

"Yeah, but you're the teacher that relates with everyone the most! You remember how it feels to be a kid,"

"Exactly. You can't have a teacher dueling another teacher like angry first years. It's not safe,"

"But--"

"Charlie, you'll do fine without me,"

"But what about all the other first years that haven't come through yet? I can name at least four,"

"And I can name six more than that, but I can't stay. I'm sorry Charlie,"

"But what will you do? Where will you go?"

"I'm an Auror and do you think teachers don't have houses? You're a great kid, Charlie, I'm sure your parents are proud,"

"That reminds me; my mum sent Bill a letter the other day. She says it's been so long since you and—was Remus his name?—have come to see the family. She thought the two of you might like to stop by over the summer some time."

"Would it be too awkward to see an ex-professor over the summer?" I asked.

"No, and from what mum says the two of you were friends of the family during the war. Not that I remember, but whatever,"

"Alright then, if your mother can handle two more Marauders," I said, grinning. It would be good to see Molly and Arthur. And maybe a first rate opportunity to see what kind of mischief-makers the twins could be.

**That's the end of this round! Any refrences to Snape and Keena's Hogwarts years can be found in Blind Secrets. Again, I'm really sorry my updating over the past few weeks as been non-existent! Don't forget to review! Next is Chapter 21!**

**:-D**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Three Years Later...

**Here's the deal. If I were some famous author I would have a humongous house with lots of expensive crap that I don't need and my alias wouldn't sound like it could be a screen name. I Don't Own Any of It. **

**I'm so sorry that it's been taking me forever to update! ****Okay, enjoy!

* * *

**

"Keena!" Remus called up the stairs from the living room.

"What?" I yelled back from the top of the staircase.

"Molly is on the floo! She wants to know what time she can drop Ron and Ginny off!"

"Hang on a second,"

It had been three years since I had fought with Snape. Unfortunately I had not been able to get my old status as Auror back. Apparently the ministry had an issue with my dueling in such a fashion in front of a bunch of fifth year students. So I was a part time Auror now and Remus was still holding down random jobs at random times. When I wasn't in the office I usually found myself babysitting for any of my friends. Today I would be watching Ron and Ginny.

"Good morning, Molly," I said as I vaulted over the back of the couch and in front of the fireplace. She gave a look that showed her disapproving. "Don't worry, I'm a total hypocrite and I don't let anybody else do stuff like that," I smiled proudly.

Remus snorted.

"Yes, well, what time can you take them?" Molly said, choosing to ignore the situation entirely.

"Any time is fine. I'm not needed in the office today. In fact you could send them over now if you like," I answered trying not to show how much it bothered me that I still hadn't redeemed myself in my boss' eyes.

"Alright, I'll send them over as soon as I've got them dressed then. Oh and Ronald is not to brag about going to Hogwarts next year and Ginny is not to go anywhere near a wand if he does. Goodness knows, you would have thought he would've figured out that she does know curses and it isn't accidental magic anymore." Molly said, shaking her head. My lips twitched as I nodded in agreement. "I'll come for them as soon as I finish the shopping."

"Don't rush yourself; I'll keep them well occupied,"

"Thank you so much, Keena, you've been a great help, especially when you took the twins that summer. I still can't believe you pranked them. They didn't try anything for a month!"

I waved a hand. "Don't you remember who you're talking to? That stuff is right up Remus and my alley."

"Yes, I do remember. Oh, I better go, I can hear the argument starting. Goodbye Keena,"

"See you later, Molly,"

She pulled her head out of the green flames and I headed to the kitchen where Remus was browsing in the fridge.

"When are they coming?" he asked, not bothering to take his head out of the fridge.

"About five minutes," I replied summoning a cereal box from the cabinet. I had just woken up and it was nearly noon already. "What time are you leaving?"

"I got the night shift. I'm stuck with you three all day,"

"Don't sound so excited,"

"I'm well practiced. What do you have planned for today?"

"I don't know, I was thinking a trip to the park."

"Isn't that a little risky? What if Harry is there?"

"Then he's there. I'll keep them away from him if it comes down to it."

"That won't matter. If he sees you he'll be sure to wander over like he did the last time you took one of them to the park."

"We got away in time! I don't even think he realized that we saw him before we left!"

"That's not fair to him,"

"Well, he's going to meet them in a couple of months anyway. Maybe an earlier intro--"

"Keena, Dumbledore already told you, you couldn't do that," Remus said as he closed the fridge door holding milk and a serious expression.

"Okay fine, I won't introduce them," _at least not as a witch or wizard…_

Remus gave me a skeptical look but we were interrupted by the sounds of two siblings arguing over whether or not Ron would get into Gryffindor. Again.

"Keena," Ginny came skidding into the room. "Tell Ron he shouldn't keep bragging about going to Hogwarts! And tell him he won't be a Gryffindor if he does!"

"Nuh-uh! Keena, tell her I'm gonna be the best Gryffindor in the family!"

"Ha, that's a good one," Ginny replied sarcastically.

"Ron, stop bragging, Ginny will be there in a year in any case. And Ginny, don't say your brother won't be a Gryffindor, it's not nice. Would you like to have a Slytherin for a brother?"

"He wouldn't be a Slytherin, he'd be a Hufflepuff," Ginny stated.

"And you want a Hufflepuff as brother?" Remus asked.

She thought about it for a moment, a calculating look present on her face before she shook her head no.

"Then say you're sorry,"

"Sorry, Ron,"

"Sorry, Ginny,"

"Okay, now that that's settled, let's have some lunch. Then we can go to the park."

"Okay," they smiled in response.

The four of us ate a quick sandwich before heading out the door. It was early June so the park was full of younger children while the school age ones were probably sitting at desks in a hot classroom just waiting for the bell to ring. That meant that Harry would not be there until the afternoon at least.

"Oh," Ginny groaned when she saw how many people were there. "Now you can't push us on the swings,"

"Well, we can, you just won't go as high up as usual," Remus answered.

"But it's not the same," Ron sighed, agreeing with his little sister. "It's more fun when we go all the way around."

"Well, you both know that we can't use our wands in front of muggles. We'll have to make do with what we can." Remus said.

"Okay,"

The two of them ran to the empty swings on the end of the giant set and began having a contest to see who could get higher without magic. Remus and I found a bench not too far away to sit on while the two of them played.

"Hey! Get away from her!" the two of us looked up to see Ron's ears as red as his hair as he stood glaring at a group of laughing boys. It looked like one of them had pushed Ginny off of her swing.

"I guess you haven't heard that the end swing is _mine_." Said the chubby blonde one who had taken a seat on the swing Ginny had been sitting in. "So get lost!" Another one of the boys laughed and pushed Ron who (from having learned from having so many older brothers) easily dodged him before throwing a punch. In the next half a second the entire group was at war and half the playground came to watch.

Remus and I ran over and the fight immediately began to break off. All who were left battling were Ron and the skinny boy he had punched.

"Ron, I think you've got him," I said just as he shoved the boy to the ground.

"Now you're gonna get it from your mum!" one of the boys from Dudley's group laughed.

"Are you quite sure of that?" I asked as my eyes settled on Dudley who was grinning just as stupidly waiting for me to round on Ron. "Because he's not my son. But that doesn't mean you lot get off."

"Where is your mother, young man, I want to ask her about your manners. Kicking a girl off of the swings as if you owned the bloody set. Well, where is she?" Remus demanded from Dudley who had finally stopped smiling.

"My mum says not to talk to strangers," he replied, sticking his nose in the air.

"They're not strangers," Remus and I wheeled around to see that Harry had joined the crowd during the fight. "They helped Mrs. Figg babysit me once."

"Well, I don't know them do I, freak?"

"Don't call him a freak you—you—ugh! Dudley, just tell us where your mother is!" I cried angrily.

"No! You're not the boss of me!"

"She's over there," Harry said, pointing to a group of obliviously chatting mothers.

"Shut up you idiot!"

"You take care of Ron and Ginny, I'll cover Petunia," I growled. "Dudley, come with me." I commanded. He looked ready to protest but he obeyed.

"Mrs. Dursley?" I called once I knew I was within earshot. She turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of me. I raised an eyebrow and she regained composure in front of her friends.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Your son and his friends have been harassing my niece and nephew. In fact I don't know if any of you observant ladies noticed, but there was just a scuffle by the swings."

"Your point is?"

"Well, are you going to punish your son for pushing my niece off of her swing? It would be rather rude if he were not to apologize." I spoke my words in honeyed venom and I could tell Petunia was getting nervous.

"Go and apologize," she said, looking at Dudley for the first time. "You do not push girls."

"But mum it was _my _swing," he protested at once.

"A gentleman would give his seat up for a lady," I replied at once. "Only a pig would keep the seat," I added in an undertone I was certain only Dudley and Petunia could hear because there were no offended gasps. "Petunia, why don't you come with us," I suggested.

I brought the two of them over to the swings where Remus was inspecting Ron's fat lip and black eye. Ginny was sitting quietly on her swing, glaring at the ground and muttering to herself. As we got closer I realized that she was muttering curses. I also noticed that Harry was standing not too far from Remus and that Dudley's group was hanging back only a bit farther.

"Apologize to her," Petunia repeated, pushing Dudley in front of Ginny (who had stopped muttering but continued to glare at Dudley).

"I'm sorry for pushing you off of the swing," he muttered to the ground. I caught Ginny's eye and winked.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that," she said understanding my point.

"I said I'm sorry for pushing you off of the swing," he ground out glaring at her.

"You don't sound very sorry at all,"

"Well I am!"

"Then why are you shouting?"

Dudley turned a shade of pink that would make his father proud. "Ginny," I said in a warning tone, though I had a small smile on my face.

"Alright, then I accept your apology."

"Thank you Mrs. Dursley," I said, smiling at her once more. She grimaced before leading Dudley away in a vice grip.

"Keena, we're gonna have to leave. I need to heal Ron's eye before his mother sees it or she'll grill us alive," Remus said.

"Alright," Ginny and I sighed. "Harry, why don't we walk you home," I called over my shoulder as I noticed Dudley's gang advancing slowly.

"Thanks," he muttered as he caught up to us.

"Ginny, Ron, this is Harry," I said, introducing them.

"Hi," chorused the trio.

"That boy wasn't very nice." Ginny said as soon as we left the park gates. "And why did he call you names? Do you know him?"

"He's my cousin," Harry replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, he and his friends are always doing stuff like this and they never apologize for it,"

"You mean this happens a lot and they just get away with it?" Remus asked, appalled. Harry nodded. "Do they ever hurt you?" he asked seriously.

"Never that bad,"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Um…they well…It's never worse than a few bruises and maybe broken glasses,"

"Why doesn't anybody stop them?" Ron asked. "Like, I don't know…what about your mum and dad?"

"I don't have parents. I live with the Dursleys,"

"Oh! I'm sorry," Ron muttered his ears turning bright pink from embarrassment.

"What about a teacher?" Remus asked. But Harry just shook his head no. "Bloody muggles," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" the kids chorused.

"Nothing," Remus replied.

"Remus is just too embarrassed to admit he swore," I responded. "Shame on you for doing so in front of little Ginny,"

"Hey! I'm not so little!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "That's what she thinks. Ow!" Ginny punched him in the arm.

"Okay, stop right there," I said before the argument elevated. "Well, here we are Harry." I added as we stopped in front of Privet Drive. "Have a safe summer,"

"I'll try," he said.

"Okay, don't let your cousin bully you,"

"Bye Harry," called Ron and Ginny.

"Bye," he said as he walked up his driveway.

"He was nice," Ginny stated as we began walking to Mrs. Figg's house (that's where we apparated to in order to get to the park). "D'you think next time he can come over and play with us?"

"Yeah, maybe he could even visit the Burrow!" Ron agreed.

"I'm sure your dad would love that," I laughed.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Oh I forgot, he's a muggle isn't he?" Ginny sighed.

We arrived at Mrs. Figg's house and apparated home. Mrs. Weasley came for Ron and Ginny around four and Remus left for work around six. I decided to sit down and write a letter to Lily and James and send them a picture I had taken of Harry while he was sitting on the swings. I had been watching Alexis and she thought I was taking a picture of her going down the slide. The letter read:

_Dear Lily and James,_

_I'm sending you another picture of Harry at the playground. He's grown so much and he is very polite. You would be proud_. _We talked to him today (Remus, Ron, Ginny and I that is). Ginny said he was nice and Ron wanted to have him over the Burrow sometime. I think I may ask Dumbledore if we can have something arranged. You see, Ron and Ginny think he's just a muggle (they didn't see his scar or they would have realized). His letter will be arriving at the beginning of next month, though I'm not certain that he'll receive it. Petunia and Vernon are terrified of Remus and __I__ and I can only imagine how they feel about Harry. _

_Remus and I are doing well as are all the others. The ministry still hasn't given me my job back so money has been a tad tight but we'll manage. I'm only here for another two years in any case then I'll be a moody thirteen year old again (well maybe not moody but you get the idea). _

_Write back soon! Remember we all still miss you both a lot!_

_Love/From, _

_Keena_

I finished off the letter and sent it on its way before I decided to keep my promise and talk to Dumbledore about Harry meeting the Weasleys.

I flooed to one of Hogwarts' visitors fires and headed towards Dumbledore's office.

"Damn…what's the password…?" I muttered to myself. "Droobles' Best Blowing Gum? No? Acid Pops? Nope…uh…Bertie Botts…no it's never that one…um…how about Ice Mice?"

The gargoyle leapt aside revealing the staircase. I headed up the stairs and knocked on the door. I heard a faint "Come in," and entered.

Dumbledore was seated behind his desk in violet robes with golden shooting stars running across. Opposite him sat a man with a beard that could have rivaled Dumbledore's, though he was bald. His eyes were squinted behind his circular glasses. He wore forest green robes with a pattern of leaves circulating around the hem.

"Sorry to interrupt, Professor, I can wait outside if you like,"

"It's quite alright, Keena, my friend and I were just finishing up. May I introduce my good friend, Nicholas Flamel?" _Oh, right…the Sorcerer's Stone…_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," I said, shaking his hand and smiling.

"Aye, Professor, I was right—all the pretty ones come to see ya'," the elder man grinned, shaking my hand. "I knew I shoulda' become a Professa' meself—there aren't any people who come to see me 'cept them bloody reporters. Me lab is very lonely at times,"

I smiled. "Actually, I came to see the Professor about a small matter,"

"Does it have to do with a certain ten year old boy?" Dumbledore asked, his grin fading ever so slightly.

"Yes," I said and Dumbledore sighed tiredly. "Professor, why can't we tell him a few weeks early? I don't see the harm in it,"

"The tiniest bit of paparazzi could change his opinion of our entire world." He seemed to have rehearsed what he was going to say. "The answer is no, you may not tell him earlier. He will get his letter at the same time everyone else does."

"Talking about Harry Potter, eh? You must be his godmum then?" Flamel had caught on much faster than I would have expected a man over six hundred years of age to have done.

"Yes, sir, I am," I said nodding.

"Well, I'm afraid I've got to agree with the Professa' here," Flamel said nodding to Dumbledore. "He's betta' off finding out the way you remember it," I raised my eyebrows and looked at Dumbledore who seemed just as confused as I was. "Come now, you both didn't honestly think I couldn't tell! I've seen my share of disguises and time travelers. I could tell as soon as you walked through them doors, there," he said, pointing his aged hand at the door. "Mr. Potter needs to discover what he is the way every other human being does—through experience. Waiting a bit longer to find out he's the most famous person on the face of the planet can only help him on that journey."

I sighed, realizing I had been defeated.

"Alright then, if you're both sure of this," I said. "It was nice to meet you sir,"

"The pleasure was all mine. But you keep an eye on that godson o' yours—especially when you're back in your own time," he said, bringing his glasses to the bridge of his nose and staring at me.

"You can be certain of that, sir," I said before turning around and leaving.

_Perhaps I'll get Dumbledore allow me to have Harry over sometime after he's received his letter…there won't be any risk then, right? What am I thinking? He always has an excuse for that boy…_

I made my way to the fireplaces thinking to myself about ways to take Harry away from the Dursley's for maybe a day or two. I was just about to turn down the hallway to the visitor fireplaces when I found myself face to face with a foul creature. Snape stood as tall as ever, his robes billowing in what he must have thought would be a threatening manner.

"You're in my way," I muttered, glaring hard.

"I believe I could say the same about you. And by the way, when were you permitted to come into this building? Only teachers and students are allowed in the school during the year."

"Well, perhaps you should go remind the headmaster of that. Now please get out of my way," I growled through gritted teeth.

"What will you do if I don't? Jinx me?"

"Care to test?" my current employment situation was the only reason I held back at all.

"You know, you're lucky I didn't kill you,"

"And you're lucky I didn't go to the ministry and plead a case about a deranged Death Eater who went crazy in front of a bunch of fifth year students. I could have had them all on my side. I can see the headlines now 'Death Eater loses his temper while teaching!' or maybe 'Auror saves students from Death Eater Spy'. Need I say more?"

His glare intensified so I let loose a smile. He stepped aside, seething.

"Goodnight, Sev," I called as I flooed home.

* * *

**That's the end of this chapter! Please review! Up next is chapter 22!**

**:-D**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-two: Getting Closer

**Disclaimed. **

**First off, thanks so much to my reviewers! Those messages really do make me feel**** all warm and fuzzy inside! Secondly it is ****extremely**** important from this point on to remember that 'Keena' is Kailey's alias while she is in the past.**** If 'Keena' talks about Kailey then she's talking about the one that's in first year with Harry in her own time. I hope it's not too confusing…****So read on and I hope you enjoy!**

**Okay, I've got a real reason for it taking so long to update this time! Midterms.**

"McIntosh, Dale, Tonks, we've just received a new assignment! We're needed at Gringotts now," Kingsley Shakelbolt pulled his head out of our office door as we gathered our wands and headed for the apparation point.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Nymphadora Tonks (a trainee) said as she crashed into Nickie who had bent over to tie up a shoelace.

"No problems, Tonks, it's just a Gringotts call—the most we'll probably have to do is tow the idiot back here for questioning. It's not going to be a full on investigation." Nickie answered, laughing at Tonks' worry.

"You never know, Nickie, it could be some insane Azkaban escapee," I said evilly.

"The day someone escapes Azkaban is the day Dumbledore's speeches start making sense," Nickie laughed. "Although that might not be a bad thing…I never did like deciphering everything he said." Tonks laughed but I could only smile. _Honestly, I don't think it'll make a difference…_

"Aurors! Let's go!"

"Keep your robes on, Kingsley, we're coming," Nickie said, shaking her head at the interns who had jumped at Kingsley's deep voice.

We arrived at Gringotts to find that the reporters and photographers had already arrived. As a result to the chaos, the goblins appeared to have locked the bank.

"Tonks, McIntosh, keep those reporters back! Dale and I'll go and see if we can't fix this mess," Kingsley said.

"Ugh…" I sighed, looking at all the reporters. "Take my word for it, don't ever get into a fight with an ex-Death Eater in front of your students—this is newbie work,"

"If he was an ex-Death Eater…shouldn't he have been fired as well?"

"Tonks, how well do you remember Dumbledore?"

"Oh, I gotcha," she said nodding.

"Okay, let's get a move on this; else they'll get into the bank. _Sonarus_," I said, pointing my wand at my throat. "Could I have your attention please," my voice boomed over the boisterous reporters. Everyone stopped talking immediately. "Thank you. Those of you who are curious about this situation, a conference will be scheduled in due time. Until then, we would like to ask that you all leave us to our work. Any violators shall answer to the Auror unit. Thank you for your cooperation."

I was just about to put my voice back to normal when I heard someone yelling a question.

"Wait a moment! Aren't you Harry Potter's godmother _and_ the discredited Auror that nearly killed one of the Hogwarts teachers a few years ago?" I could see Rita's quick-quotes-quill moving a mile a minute from where I stood. Pretending I hadn't heard her I returned my voice to normal.

"Let's clear out the remaining trash," I muttered to Tonks. The chatter had picked up once more after Rita's outburst and I could tell that it would not be an easy day, for me at least.

I was right.

For the next few weeks I was mentioned in one way or another in any article that mentioned the break-in. To make matters worse, the investigation was taking much longer than expected, mostly due to the fact that there was no suspect or any stolen artifact.

"McIntosh," Kingsley said one morning in late August. "Dumbledore has requested your presence in Hogwarts for the first few nights of the school year—he says it pertains to our current investigation."

"Dumbledore? He never uses the ministry though," I said, confused.

"Apparently he asked for your help specifically,"

"Really? Why?"

"Probably feels guilty for the newest headlines," he said, tossing the Daily Prophet onto my desk. "_Werewolves, Death Eaters and Robbers Oh My! _Rita's out done herself,"

"Merlin, what's it say now?" I said, taking the paper and reading.

_"The Auror unit has fallen into a slump since the recent retirement of one Alastair "Mad-eye" Moody. News on the recent break-in at Gringotts is slow going and no suspect has been announced as of yet. One cannot help but wonder if this has to do with inside help. Keena McIntosh (an ex-Unspeakable) became an Auror shortly after the downfall of You-Know-Who ten years ago. Since the beginning of the war sh__e has lost both of her foster parents, her foster brother and his wife__ (the famed James and Lily Potter) as well as her boyfriend—the notorious__ killer,__ Sirius Black. It is no wonder that she was not given custody of the Boy-Who-Lived and it appears that her long-term boyfriend rubbed off on her…"_

I stopped reading to look at the photograph that was below the article. It was one from Lily and James' funeral. I was holding a baby Harry, trying to get away from the camera.

"Can't we arrest her or something?" I asked, looking up at Kingsley. He gave a sarcastic smile and shook his head. "When does Dumbledore need me by?" I asked, sighing.

"September first," he replied.

"Fan-friggin-tastic…" I muttered.

"And I'm afraid I've got some more bad news," I just stared. "You're being put onto a paid leave of absence."

"Why? I haven't done anything wrong! I've had a spotless career since that fight and before that!"

"I'm sorry, I tried to fight it. In fact the subject only came up because I was suggesting we put you back up to your old station. Fudge is just tired of dealing with all the drama that Skeeter's been putting out. He said he needs to get you 'out of the scene' for a while,"

"I can't believe this…" I groaned, running my hands through my hair.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the office until further notice," he truly did look sorry, but that didn't make me feel much better.

I apparated home to find Remus sitting with his head in his hands at the coffee table in the living room. He was in between jobs once again. Next to him sat the article I had just left. He looked up at the sound of my sloppy apparation and frowned.

"Aren't you supposed to be in today?" he asked.

"I've been laid off," I replied hollowly. "Apparently Fudge doesn't like the extra publicity he's been getting lately. I do have a small assignment from Dumbledore, though. He wants me at Hogwarts for the beginning of the year—he said it had to do with the case. How's your search going?"

"I contacted a place and they promised to get back to me quickly."

"That's good; at least one of us will be working,"

"What do you think Dumbledore wants you to do?"

"Probably help protect something for a little bit," I answered. "He wants me in for the first of the month."

"Maybe he wants you to start remembering what it was like to be a first year." Remus suggested. "I'm sure you've changed a lot, especially with everything that's happened in the past years,"

"Maybe,"

"Hey, I've got an idea, why don't we go give Harry his birthday present. We've certainly got the time now."

"Yeah, I just wish we could have given it to him on his birthday—that investigation took all week," I said brightly. "Wait…won't Dumbly get upset?"

"Now there's one I have yet to hear before," I turned wide-eyed to the fire place where the Professor's head sat smiling in the green flames.

"Hello, Professor," I said, smiling weakly.

"Hello, Keena, Remus," he answered. "What is it that you think I'll get upset about?"

"I was just about to tell her that you gave us permission to visit Harry once before he took the train to school." Remus replied.

"Really?" I asked, turning to face the headmaster's head.

"Yes, I believe Harry should be informed who the two of you are now. If he ever found out later I think he may feel slightly betrayed—something I do not want for a boy so young and just discovering his heritage."

"But what about all that stuff Flamel said?"

"We further discussed your proposition and decided that you were right. Just be careful with what you say. I have total trust in you—you always have been a very good secret keeper,"

"Thank you, sir,"

"You're welcome," he smiled. "Now onto the reason I've contacted you in the first place. I believe Kingsley talked to you this morning?" I nodded. "Good, I will make this as short as possible. My friend Nicolas has entrusted to me to keep the Sorcerer's Stone safe for him—he says he can feel danger mounting—and he would like you and some of the teachers to help protect this stone and maybe discover who is after it."

"Okay, sir, what would you like me to do?"

"Stay in the castle for the first few days of the school year and perhaps watch any teacher you feel is suspicious."

"In other words, hint at who the exact culprit is? Alright, but I'm afraid I'll have to give you a few names. I remember the events of my first year and they did not involve some random laid off Auror." I answered.

"Fair enough," he nodded. "I'll see you on the first,"

He pulled his head out of the fire and I turned to face Remus.

"Who is the one after the stone?" Remus asked.

"I'll give you three guesses," I smiled, sitting down next to him.

"Snape?"

"Unfortunately, no,"

"I give,"

"You've got two more guesses,"

"Well unless Voldemort has obtained a body recently, I can't think of anyone else."

"You always were the smart one, Moony,"

"Wait, I was being sarcastic,"

"I wasn't. Trust me, I remember first year," he looked at me as if I were insane. "Nobody gets seriously hurt, relax. If I could arrest him I would, but things need to happen."

"Voldemort is really going to be in the same building as Harry? Your godson? The boy you swore to Lily and James that you would protect with your life?"

"Yes," I said keeping my voice neutral. "Yes, I am. Harry has to face him. There's nothing else to it. Now, let's go give him his birthday present shall we?"

Before he could respond, I stood up and walked out of the room to go and change into muggle clothing so as not to attract attention from passerby.

Remus didn't talk to me the whole way there, even though it was only a five minute walk from Mrs. Figg's house. We arrived at the Dursley house and walked up the path. Even as Remus knocked on the door I could feel someone's eyes staring as if accusing us of being in the wrong neighborhood. I looked at the house next door to find it to be true. The neighbor at number three was staring at us as if we were going to vandalize the entire neighborhood.

I shook the thoughts away as the front door open. Standing in the doorway was an angry looking Petunia Dursley.

"Let me guess, you're here to check on the boy? Well come in if you must. He's up in his room." She moved aside to allow our admittance. "Up the stairs—his is the only door that's closed. He's up there on his own decision."

"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley," Remus said as we came in. We went straight up the stairs and found the closed door. He knocked on it and there were noises of somebody jumping off of a bed and running to the door before Harry stood in front of us.

"Remus, Keena…what are you doing here?" he asked, perplexed.

"Well, we never got a chance to give you your birthday present, did we?" I asked, smiling. "Plus we've got some news for you," I added.

"Oh, okay, come on in," he said, stepping back to let us in.

"So, Harry, you met Hagrid the other day?" I asked. He stared at us.

"No way, are you both wizards too?"

"Yes, Harry, we are," Remus answered. "Keena, why don't you give him his present?"

"Okay," I said. I took the miniscule package out of my pocket and returned it to its normal size earning a small "wow" from Harry. "You'll get used to magic. For now, just open it,"

He seemed uncertain at first but curiosity got the better of him and he tore the paper off of the picture that lay in its frame.

"I know most eleven year olds expect something a little different, but Hagrid seems to have taken care of the owl." I said quickly hoping that my emotions wouldn't get the better of me. It was a picture of Lily and James holding Harry and standing behind his birthday cake. Lily was shaking her head as James covered his and Harry's faces with frosting.

"Are they my…parents?" he asked.

"Yes," Remus said and I nodded. "We were friends with them throughout our own years at Hogwarts. Actually, Keena was considered James' foster sister,"

I watched Harry's face. He looked surprised and confused.

"James was the first friend I made and Lily was the second," I stated. "They were really good people—and powerful too," I added. "There is another thing that I need to tell you, Harry. When you were born, your parents made me your godmother."

"Does that mean you could…I mean, if you wanted…"

"No, Harry, I can't. I'm not related to you by blood and in any case I don't have a steady job at the moment." _Not to mention the fact that I'm the same age as you…_

"Oh," he sounded slightly hurt as if the hope he had maybe built up in the last thirty seconds had caused him to fall from a great height.

"But I will be watching over you and you can write letters to me as often as you want," I promised. "And I'll always write back. If you ever get into serious trouble, I'll be there,"

He smiled, though he still looked a little upset and I felt horrible for being the cause of his sadness.

"So…are you my godfather?" he asked Remus, who noticeably tightened. "I'm sorry, I just assumed…"

"No, it's fine." I jumped in immediately before Remus could even think of explaining the truth. "Remus isn't your godfather, Harry,"

"Do I have one?"

"Yes," I answered. "But he was deemed unable to care for you as well,"

"Will I ever meet him?"

"I rather doubt it," Remus answered shortly. "He is in no position to come and visit you as we are."

"Are you excited to catch the train, Harry?" I stepped in for a subject change.

"Yeah, I've never ridden one before. And I've got a question,"

"Yes?"

"Why don't we take something…more…magical sounding?"

"What? Like magic carpets or brooms? Those are too small for the entire student body to ride on! Besides, magic carpets were outlawed in Britain some time ago," I answered, laughing.

"Why?"

"Magic carpets are really beautiful rugs and somehow the muggles were able to get their hands on some. It caused a huge mess and now we just stick to brooms. The train is run by magic if that makes it any better," Remus replied.

"And the boats," I added. "Well, maybe not so much…" I said remembering how both times I had been in the boats I had fallen in the lake.

"What boats?" Harry asked.

"You'll find out when you get there," I grinned.

"Keena, that was just cruel,"

"What? I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Besides, the boats are nothing to the sorting," I answered.

"How do they sort you?" Harry asked.

"They make you take a test," I answered. Harry paled.

"I've read some of the books but will that be enough?"

"You sounded just like Lily," I said, looking at him with wide eyes at how fast he responded.

"And you just showed him how James always acted." Remus added, shaking his head. "James enjoyed pranks and jokes," he said in response to Harry's questioning look. "Lily was more of the studious type than James ever was. And no, there is no test,"

"What were they like?" Harry asked, ignoring the part about Hogwarts.

"Kind, caring, loving parents and people, they had a good sense of humor too," I began. "Your mother was really clever, especially in charms and potions, and your father was excellent with transfiguration."

"You were the best thing that ever happened to the two of them I think," Remus added. "You could tell by the way they looked at you,"

"I've got another question," he said, this time very quietly. "Hagrid wasn't too specific and I don't know if it's because nobody knows what happened or not but I was curious…do you know what happened the night they died?"

He looked between Remus and me as we exchanged glances. My heart had caught in my throat. I remembered exactly what had happened that night. I had dreamt about Lily and James apparating away their lives and their son. I rubbed the back of my neck as I remembered the collapsing house and the screams and the flashes of green and white...

"Perhaps we could get into that another time, Harry," Remus answered, bringing me back into the present that I was invading. "Is there anything else you wanted to know about your parents before you went to Hogwarts?"

"What kinds of pranks did my…did my Dad like to pull?"

"They were the most hilarious things you've ever seen, Harry," I answered immediately. "Well, the ones from fifth year on looked pretty cool if you ask me anyway," I corrected myself. The descriptions I had been given were nowhere near as funny as watching the actual thing.

"So they weren't like…dunking peoples' heads in toilets?"

"Harry, I think you've confused pranking with bullying," I laughed.

"Though there is a fine line," Remus added.

"Only if the person you get doesn't laugh or isn't a Slytherin,"

"What's wrong with Slytherins?" Harry asked.

"Nothing if you like pompous, obnoxious little—"

"Nothing is wrong with Slytherins, Harry; they're just not generally the best people to hang around. Some of them can be okay," Remus said, interrupting my rant. I snorted earning myself a look from Remus.

"Okay, fine, I'm judging off of one or two people who I really detest. I've never even really talked to a Slytherin without pre-judging them so I guess I can't give you an impartial opinion," I admitted.

"Should I avoid them?"

"They're like bees, I think. If you don't bother them they won't sting you," I answered.

"What if I were allergic to bees?"

"But you're not," Remus replied, though he looked a little confused.

"And if I was?"

"Then you would've been given a potion when you were little so that you weren't allergic to them anymore." I informed. "Point is you don't have to be afraid of the Slytherins,"

"Who should I be afraid of?"

"Nobody,"

"Not even bullies?"

"Especially not them,"

"What if I were to get bullied at Hogwarts? Are there any spells you guys could tell me about?" _That glint in his eye...from James or Lily...? Too hard to tell..._

"Yes, it's called a quill and parchment. You use them to write a letter to Keena so she can come and scar the living day-lights out of whoever bothers you," Remus replied giving me a look as I closed my mouth. _Actually I would've suggested using Expelliamus…or maybe Levicorpus…_

"Okay," he sounded a little put out. "What houses were my parents in?"

"We were all in Gryffindor," I said. "The house of the lion," I added.

"The 'Brave-hearts' as one of our friends once put it."

"Brave?" Harry didn't sound too thrilled.

"Courage isn't something that can be defined, really. It's all about what's in here," I said, poking Harry in the chest. "Ravenclaw is all about the smarts, and Slytherin is more about cunning and cleverness to put it nicely. The Hufflepuffs are unusually loyal in their defense." I added.

"Don't worry so much about the sorting. Just worry about your classes and having a good time," Remus put in. "That's what your parents would have wanted for you," he said, indicating to the picture.

**Okay I think that's all I'm gonna do for this chapter! (15 pages in word is enough right?) I hope you enjoyed! Up next is chapter 23! Please review!**

**:-D**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: Suspicions 

**I'm starting to wonder if I should bother disclaiming anymore…**

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed! I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!**

I sat in the far corner of the staff table, nearly hidden by Hagrid. The first years were out in the hall waiting for Professor McGonagall to lead them inside. I hadn't spoken with Snape yet but I couldn't wait to—I needed to decide what color would look best on him.

"How long will yeh be stayin' then, Keena?" Hagrid asked pulling me out of my thoughts. _I don't think he'll look too good in purple…magenta perhaps?_

"Oh, just for the first week or so," I answered. _No…magenta is far too red…maybe in the blue family? Haven't done that one yet…_

"I was sorry ter hear what happened with the ministry an' all," he said, shaking his shaggy head. "It ain't right o' them ter judge yeh by what them reporters say,"

"Yeah, but since when was the ministry fair to the people?" I asked, grinning at him. "Who am I to complain about my being laid off when there are people in Azkaban who weren't even tried?"

"But tha's different, that is," I only brought Sirius up because Hagrid would always flip-flop his opinion on the matter. By the end of our conversations he would be ready to break down Fudge's door—though that might have something to do with the mead seeing as Hagrid would come to random pubs with the gang and myself.

"Whatever you say, Hagrid," I said, laughing at the memory of a few months ago when Hagrid had begun shouting that he was 'seriously serious' about Sirius' innocence. Seriously. We had all groaned at the amount of puns that came about after that. "Oh, look the first years," I said as the doors swung open and the crowd of first years walked in.

I immediately began recognizing my year mates. I picked out Ron and Harry easily. They were both grinning with Kailey…erm…me. In front of the trio I spotted Hermione, her mouth moving so fast it looked like a blur from the head table. The sorting commenced and Dumbledore gave his speech before the feast began.

"So, Hagrid, when can you take me to see Fluffy?" I asked. I was supposed to witness all of the teachers leaving their traps and enchantments to make sure they were legal.

"Well…Fluffy…he's bin kinda…"

"Hagrid, he's a three-headed dog with no permit isn't he?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

Hagrid flushed in response.

"But seeing as I'm not technically on the job here I don't see a problem, do you?" I asked and Hagrid sighed with relief.

Dumbledore stood once more at the end of the feast and the students were dismissed for bed. I stood as well and I was just about to head to my quarters when I was stopped by a pair of redheads.

"Oh, boys, I almost forgot," I said, grinning at their mischievous looks. "I still can't decide between a sea foam green or maybe somewhere along the lines of a more bright purple,"

"Why not both?" Fred suggested.

"There are two of us after all," George added.

"No, we tried that once with red and gold after we won the Quidditch cup in my fourth year and all we got was metallic orange. Although it was still funny," I answered.

"Really?" Fred sounded intrigued.

"That's strange," George agreed.

"Perhaps if we came from different sides?"

"Like one of you from the right and the other from the left?" I asked.

"Exactly," George nodded.

"That way the colors will only mix in the middle,"

"It could work," I nodded my approval. I noticed Dumbledore looking at us. "But make sure you do it a while after I leave. I'll give you a camera for Christmas or something," I muttered.

"Ms. McIntosh, would you join me for a moment,"

"Yes sir?" I asked coming over to him.

"Already getting ready to shock the school?"

"Professor! I'm astounded you would think that of me!" I smiled.

"As long as it is nothing too harsh,"

"I am shocked, sir, how could you think so low of me? I would never do anything harmful nor allow that sort of prank to be pulled."

"I didn't know you suffered from memory loss, McIntosh," Snape had seen me with the headmaster and apparently felt it necessary for him to butt into our conversation. "How could you so quickly forget about sixth year?"

"I believe I was _told_ to forget about that incident as were you, Severus," I growled. "It's not my fault you actually did what Sirius told you to do. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'?"

"No, was it derived from a recent accident that Lupin had?"

"Severus, that is enough," Dumbledore warned. "You had better go and make certain all of your students made it to their dormitories,"

"Yes, headmaster," Snape obeyed, while giving me a withering look.

"Keena, would you join me in my office for a moment? It would be best for us to discuss what I have to say in private, I think,"

"Of course, Professor," I said my mind still on Snape. _Maybe a nice manicure would do him good__ as well__…_

We made it into his office and took our respective seats near his desk. Fawkes flew over to me and perched on my lap, humming a soft tune.

"Good to see you, as well," I said, stroking the bird's feathered head. "So, Professor, what would you like?"

"I just have a few questions for you about you,"

"Um…sir?"

"I need to know what your real name is and when you were sent back,"

"Oh, well my name was—er, is—Kailey Macauley and I'm going to be heading back in time at the end of second year," I answered now that his question made a little more sense. "But I thought I remembered you talking to me before the opening feast in my first year?"

"Oh, I did," Dumbledore assured me. "But twenty-one years is a long time and I wanted to make sure you remembered who you are,"

"Do people really forget themselves?"

"Well there have been theories but no one has ever really traveled that far back and then waited it out before. You are nearing the end of a pioneer mission so to speak."

"Sir, what will we say happened to me when I'm back in my own time? Or will Keena just disappear off of the face of the earth?" That question had been bothering me for some time.

"Well, there is a potion you will need to take in order to turn back into Kailey. Actually it is a variation of the potion you would take if you were to become an animagus. I have researched the potion and I believe that after you have taken it you should, in theory, be able to transform (so to speak) between Kailey and Keena however you like."

"So what you're telling me is that I'll be able to change myself between the two at will?"

"Yes, essentially that is what I believe will happen. Only time will tell if this is just a speculation or not, however,"

"Professor, stop pretending you don't already know it will work. Most, if not all of your guesses, end up being right in the end," I said, rolling my eyes at the professor's modesty.

"There is a first time for everything, Keena," the aged wizard answered, slightly solemnly.

"I didn't exactly do what you expected me to, did I?" I asked, looking at my feet to avoid the headmaster's gaze.

"I don't honestly know what I expected of you yet, Keena, I'll tell you in another two years," he answered. "I sincerely hope I have not been too expectant, you have, after all, suffered quite a bit." We stayed silent for a moment and I continued stroking a humming Fawkes. "Now, Ms. McIntosh, onto business. Do you have any suspects as of yet?"

"Can I just say Snape?" I asked in dead seriousness.

He chuckled lightly. "No, I'm afraid you cannot name him because of your mutual dislike of each other."

"What if I said it was because he is an ex-Death Eater?"

"You know that he turned for our side," Dumbledore admonished. "Severus is as good as you or I,"

"So you're saying I'm likely to attack you just because it's hot outside and I'm stuck babysitting fifteen year olds?"

"He is certainly not as evil as to send a sixteen year old after a werewolf,"

"But evil enough to betray an old school rival, his wife and newborn to Voldemort? Professor, what he has down wrong outweighs any good he's got to his name. Why can't you accept that?"

"I trust Severus with my life," Dumbledore stated.

"I hope you do because it may come to that!" I closed my mouth quickly and turned away as soon as I realized what I had just said.

"I'll assume you did not mean that," the twinkle in his eye seemed forced and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Keena? Is there something you wish to tell me now? You did say tonight that you would only tell me the future if it involved death,"

"I did?" I asked.

"Well, Kailey did,"

"Oh, yes…" I remembered my first conversation with the headmaster. "I did say that didn't I?" I gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, I don't wish to pressure you just now. You may tell me later if you wish,"

I only nodded in response. _Well maybe it won't be an issue any more…James and Lily are still alive all I have to do is convince them to come back into their son's life…eventually…

* * *

_

The next day I was shown into the forbidden corridor by McGonagall. With a wave of her wand she silenced Fluffy and we leapt into the chamber with our wands lit. But instead of heading to the door that I knew led out of the chamber we walked over to a stretch of solid brick wall. Using a spell I didn't recognize, she dissolved the wall and we went down a narrow hallway that led to a large wooden door.

We went through the door and arrived in the room in which the stone was to be hidden.

"I never knew this hall was here," I muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, Mickey," I grinned as she rolled her eyes. "I just thought the boys and I had uncovered every secret passageway while we were at school,"

"You most likely did. This particular passage, however, is new and Dumbledore will be closing it after the stone is transported down here."

"And he'll be getting it down here when exactly?"

"He is still trying to figure out how to hide the stone,"

"You mean in the mirror?" I asked.

"Eventually that is what he hopes to do, yes," McGonagall answered. "The problem is figuring a way to use the mirror,"

"What if Remus and I tried researching some spells?"

"Perhaps, but I don't know where the mirror is and neither do any of the other teachers,"

"Oh, well I see how that can slow things down a bit," I said, nodding.

"No, I mean he keeps it here in the castle somewhere but I don't know where. None of the teachers do,"

"He probably doesn't want anyone losing their minds by sitting in front of it," I said, shrugging.

"Do you have a desire to see it?"

"No, I'd rather not know just like I'd rather not come in contact with a boggart, although I could guess at what it would turn into," I added.

McGonagall nodded before looking at her watch. "I must be going; I've got a group of first years who will be showing up late, no doubt. Actually, your year was the only year that never got lost on the first day," it sounded like a question so I answered.

"I gave James, Sirius and Remus the tour and all of the other students just started following us," I said with a shrug.

She nodded with a small smile on her face as we headed back to the main castle. I headed to the library to see if I could find any good books that might be helpful to Dumbledore though I had a feeling he had already taken any that might be of assistance. I walked past the book of Hogwarts Alumni and decided to have a look.

I tried to look up myself to see if 'Keena McIntosh' was there, but I wasn't under my alias' name. Frowning, I turned the page to look and see if I was under 'Kailey Macauley'. I found my name and felt my jaw drop. My first accomplishment was listed as traveling back in time and changing my name along with all the other things I had done under the name 'Keena McIntosh'.

I looked around to make sure no one was watching before I transfigured the words to say I was just a first year. I then added myself in the proper place that 'Keena' should have been listed as. I even added the fact that I was a laid off Auror. I then flipped to Remus' page and smudged out the invention of the spell that had brought Lily and James back to life. Lastly I looked for Lily and James' names. To my horror they were listed as living in an unplottable location. Thinking quickly I transfigured that part of the page using a spell that had helped create the Marauders' Map changing it to look as if Lily and James were dead before I smudged out Lily's job and accomplishments.

Just as I sighed in relief I heard a student come up from behind me. I quickly shut the book and turned around to find myself facing a bushy haired Hermione. She had several books in her arms but was staring at me strangely.

"Why do you have your wand out?"

"It was easier to look myself up with my wand than to flip through all the pages," I replied thinking quickly.

"What do you mean? Are you in that book?" she asked now completely interested.

"Of course, this is the book of Hogwarts Alumni, past and present. You're probably in there listed as a--?"

"A first year, I'm Hermione Granger," she shifted so that she could shake my hand.

"Keena McIntosh," I answered, taking her hand. "Why so many books? I don't remember any teachers giving first years that much work,"

"I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about this world. It's so interesting!" I smiled at her excitement. "Are you a seventh year?" _Flattering…I guess…_

"Oh, no, I was a seventh year years ago! I'm just looking around the library—this is the greatest one in Britain you know,"

"Yes, I've read that in several books already. I was so excited to finally get a chance to look around. What do you do for a job? I'm still researching various careers," she blushed as if she were embarrassed to admit she didn't know what sort of career paths there were to choose from.

"Well, I was an Auror but recent events have caused the ministry to think me unworthy of such a postion," I admitted. "I was also a teacher here for a year. That was fun,"

She continued asking me questions until it was time for dinner and she nearly panicked at not having started her homework.

I wandered around the castle a few days longer trying to figure out who I could give to Dumbledore as suspects other than Quirrell and Snape. In the end I gave Dumbledore five names, completely randomly of course. Other than the defense and potions masters I told him about Trelawney (whom I had caught with an unhealthy hangover), Filch (because he just bothered me but Dumbledore seemed intrigued anyway) as well as Professor Vector who knew quite a bit about ancient runes so he seemed a good choice.

The professor thanked me and told me I should come to the first Quidditch match and watch Harry play if I had the time, which I knew I would.

"Remus? Are you home?" I called from the living room. I received no reply which meant he was either getting food or he had a job. Either one was fine with me. I decided to sit down and reply to the letter I had received from Lily and James while I had been at Hogwarts. I told them that Harry was a Gryffindor and had already become fast friends with Ron Weasley. I sent out the letter before I noticed a white owl coming towards the house.

I left the window open so that Hedwig could soar in and stick out her leg. "He needs my help already?" I asked the bird.

I opened the letter and read.

_Dear Keena,_

_My first week at Hogwarts was fantastic! I've already made two good friends and the Quidditch team as Seeker. On Friday, my friends and I went to Hagrid's where I spotted a Daily Prophet sitting on the table. It mentioned you being laid off because of suspicions with the Gringotts robbery. I was just wondering if you knew Hagrid and I had emptied the vault earlier that day, because if you didn't I thought it might help to know. I was also wondering if you'd like to come and watch my first Quidditch match__ (Remus can come too if he would like)__ and maybe explain what it's like a little more—Fred and George Weasley have told me people can disappear. Is that true? Anyway, write back soon! _

_From, _

_Harry_

I smiled at the letter before taking out some parchment and replying that I would come to his first Quidditch match and that I highly doubted he would disappear. I also thanked him for telling me that he and Hagrid were at Gringotts that day but I had already known and spoken to Dumbledore about it. I sent the reply off with Hedwig before heading to the fireplace which had just turned green.

"Oh, Keena, you're home," Remus said as he stepped out of the fireplace. He was holding no groceries so I assumed he had a job.

"Yep, Harry has just written to ask us if we wanted to go and watch his first Quidditch match." I replied.

"Harry is a first year; he can't be on the team can he?"

"I guess he can 'cause he made it," I said, shrugging. "I already replied saying we would go."

"Alright, I'll just ask my boss for that day off," he said. "In the mean time, what house is Harry in?"

"He's a Gryffindor of course," I answered with a smile. "Can you imagine how James would have reacted if he turned out to be something else?"

"He'd probably roll over in his grave I suppose," Remus said, laughing a little.

"Probably," I replied, smiling and wondering just how James would have reacted. "So what's your new job?"

"It's just another book keeping job," he said shrugging. "All the experience I've got seems to get the better of people than the fact that I've been fired so many times,"

"Whatever works, I guess," I replied with a shrug of my own.

* * *

I hadn't expected, nor known, that Harry would write to me and Remus nearly every day. He even wrote asking for more spells that he and his friends could look up and use in a duel. I, of course, gave him a long list (though I never did tell Remus) but he wrote back saying it had only been a trick. On Halloween I sent him a picture of his parents from when they were younger (in fourth year to be exact). I figured it was fitting because James had just pranked Lily who had gotten him back by giving him a perm. The photo was priceless.

That night, however, I received a message to come to Hogwarts immediately. The note was from Dumbledore and Remus had leapt up and started asking if it was Voldemort already but didn't seem any less alarmed when I said it was just a troll.

"Just a troll? What do you mean just a troll! He's an eleven year old!" and with that Remus had decided he would accompany me to find the stupid beast. By the time we had arrived at Hogwarts Harry, Ron, Hermione and Kailey (um...myself?) had already taken out the troll.

"You see? He can handle a troll," I said, rolling my eyes at Remus after McGonagall had finished reporting to Dumbledore. Snape and Quirrell were also present in the office.

"It would seem that young Mr. Potter too suffers from the Potter arrogance," Snape muttered.

"It would only be arrogance had he been flaunting anything, Severus, and by the sound of it all he did was stick his wand up the troll's nose," Remus replied, though he still gave me a look that clearly said he did think I was being too easy about the situation.

"Yes and now he'll be saying how much harder the troll would have fell had he used his wand," Snape snapped. "I say he should be punished. Perhaps even taken out of the Quidditch match,"

"Nice try, but Mickey already took care of the punishments as his head of house," I said, sticking out my tongue at the angry potions master. "Plus, Remus and I promised we'd go,"

"No wonder you aren't his guardian, you don't even seem worried about what happened. Do you realize one of the students had to report to Madame Pomfrey?" Snape asked.

"Actually all I was informed of was that Harry and Ron had taken out a troll while protecting two other students," I said. "What happened to the student?"

"She was hit by the troll's club and could be suffering internal injuries,"

"Come, now Severus, you know full and well that she is fine," McGonagall admonished.

"I rest my case," I said, folding my arms. "And I will let Harry come to me about this. He writes to me nearly every day and I have no reason to think he won't tell me about this incident,"

"Please, what makes you think he'll tell you that he messed up?"

"He didn't mess up, Mickey even gave him and Ron points,"

"Th-that's true," Quirrell stuttered before silencing under Snape's furious gaze.

"So is this meeting over with, headmaster?" I asked, ignoring Snape's continued glare.

"I think that is all we needed. I will, however, require you and Remus to stop by my office before joining the spectators for common security reasons."

"But sir," I whined. "You already know who we are,"

"Yes but most, if not all of the parents could argue that fact," Dumbledore said, his blue eye twinkling. "Do you know how many letters I would have received had I not called the two of you in here tonight?"

"But what about Mr. Weasley's parents?" McGonagall asked sharply.

"I'll be seeing enough of them this year. The twins seemed to have had a recent inspiration," Dumbledore replied. "Something about toilet bowl seats," he stared pointedly at me.

"Don't look at me, sir, Molly was the one that told them _not_ to," I grinned.

**This feels like a good stopping point I think. Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and please review this one as well! I hope you enjoyed! Up next ****is**** 24!**

**:-D **


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four: Little Changes

**Disclaiming…**

**Thanks to my reviewers! Oh and I've got an answer for panther73110! Harry's reaction to his parents being alive…well…honestly I haven't gotten anywhere close to that point yet so I've got no idea. I know that's not very helpful but it's an answer. Please don't hate me! I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!**

It had been spectacular to watch Harry's first Quidditch game. I could have done without Harry's broom bucking, though I did manage to send a tripping curse at Quirrell (though I nearly hit Hermione) before Harry fell off. Remus and I had both jumped to our feet when Harry dive-bombed to the ground and choked out the snitch. I cheered while Remus fell back into his seat.

"You okay, Moony?"

"You could have warned me!" he said as he rubbed his temples. "Damn game…damn James for allowing a one year old on a broom…damn Sirius for _getting_ a one year old a broom…"

"You need to lighten up, Remus," I said, shaking my head. "C'mon, let's meet Harry in the Hospital Wing,"

"Why would he be going up there?" Remus asked, alarmed again.

"Weren't you watching when Wood went down? He must've hit his head or something to not be able to get in their air," I said as the stands around us cleared rapidly. "Besides, don't you want to see Harry?"

Remus and I went to the Hospital Wing and stood waiting outside of the doors. Harry came out a few minutes later along with the rest of the Gryffindor team, minus Wood of course. Fred and George spotted us first and immediately headed over, Harry following.

"We've come to the conclusion that he would look best in mint green and pastel blue," George stated proudly.

"And we've tested on several cats," Fred added.

"Meaning Mrs. Norris,"

"And the spells do work,"

"If we come from different sides," they finished together.

"Good, I'll send you a camera for Christmas. It's best not to take the picture until the end of the school year. Save the prank for the last day, at breakfast—you're detentions cannot be overlapped past the second to last day of the term. The spell will only last a couple of hours if he knows the counter-curse so you need to get a good shot or have someone take it for you. Understand?"

They saluted me and waved to Remus before running off to find Lee Jordan who would be acting as their camera man.

"What was that about?" Harry asked before Remus could even open his mouth.

"I'd like to know that myself," Remus added.

"That's a matter between myself and the twins," I said, folding my arms for effect. "So, Harry, nice game huh? What better way to start off a season than a bucking broom?"

"I thought I was done for,"

"You see? I told you we should have done something!" Remus said, rounding on me.

"Moony, calm down. I _did_ do something, or were you too focused on thinking of a counter-curse? Trust me Harry, that person will not try anything again,"

"Okay,"

"So how was your first Halloween here?"

"I thought I was done for!" he began again. He then told Remus and me the whole story and how he had managed to stick his wand up the troll's nose and Ron beat it over the head with its own club. Remus and I gasped at all of the appropriate parts and I laughed when Harry mentioned his wand up its nose.

"Leave it to McGonagall to only award five points," I muttered. Remus gave me a look. "Remus, come on, how many first years do you know that could take out a Mountain Troll?"

"I was going to ask you the same question,"

"Yeah, you've got a valid point. Harry, you do need to be more careful," he opened his mouth to object but I held up a hand. "I understand that this was a special circumstance and you probably did the right thing, just think a little more rationally next time. I mean, you can't go sticking your wand up some evil wizard's left nostril now, can you?" he shook his head. "That's what spells and hexes are for,"

"Well, my friend, Kailey, she taught me and Ron a couple but I just didn't think to use any,"

"Completely understandable," Remus said. "Most wizards don't think rationally until they've been trained to do so, and even then some of them still don't use their brains,"

"Which is why we've got people like Remus who've got abnormally large brains for the benefit of those without any at all," I smiled.

* * *

Christmas time rolled around and I received a letter from Lily and James. They wanted me to meet them at their cabin as soon as possible. Remus had the night shift so I went that night, leaving a message saying I had gone to visit a friend at a pub. I apparated into Hogsmeade and transformed into my wolf animagus before running through the woods. I arrived at their small cabin and went up to the door before transforming into a human again.

"Lily, James!" I exclaimed tackling them both in a hug.

"Keena, it's so good to see you!" Lily said. "We can't thank you enough for sending us all of those pictures," she added, gesturing to the walls which were covered in every photograph I had ever taken of Harry.

"Keena before Lily and I explain why we wanted you here we've got a favor to ask," James said. He was still the clean shaven man I had left all those years ago, though he looked a little older. There was no hint of aging in his eyes or hair, not even a wrinkle. "Could you buy Harry a watch for Christmas? Not one that would be used for a seventeenth birthday, but one you can actually read? We can give you the money for it,"

"Of course I will, James," I said seriously. He smiled before he continued.

"Lily and I have been doing a lot of research these past years," he said, leading me into the living room which contained a coffee table littered in papers and old photos.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, intrigued.

"Why Voldemort didn't die," he stated simply. "We know you can't tell us but if we figure it out on our own we were hoping you would tell us if we were right or wrong." I didn't object so he continued. "We haven't stayed in this cabin the whole time and we've collected a lot of information about him. And we think he might have used a Horcrux,"

"So what are your plans then? Are you going to go after it?" I asked.

"Do you know where they are?" Lily asked, excitedly.

I shook my head. "Not yet, I could possibly find out in a few years but it may take a while."

"Could you also find out if he made more than one?"

"Oh, he defiantly did. I think he was aiming for seven but…I don't really know. Actually, I shouldn't be telling you this. I haven't even told Dumbledore,"

"You didn't tell us, we figured it out," James smiled. His brown eyes still held a hint of mischief. "But this isn't the only thing we've been after,"

"What else are you two trying to solve? World hunger?" I asked, slightly baffled.

"Lycanthropy,"

"_How_?" was all I could ask.

"Those rumors about werewolves being in these woods are true. People let themselves loose in here all the time. Sometimes they bang into the walls of the house and leave blood stains. We use it in the potions to test it…well Lily does, I'm nothing in potions," James said.

"Werewolf blood is more of a magenta red than a blood red. At the full moon I drop a bit of whatever potion I've brewed into a vial and see if I can make the blood look more normal colored. I almost had it a couple of times but at the next full moon the vials turned violent magenta and boiled." She said, shaking her head.

"Then you told us about the Wolfsbane Potion so we've been trying to get our hands on the ingredients but we don't know how to get them,"

"I could just order them. People know I live with a werewolf at the ministry, they wouldn't get suspicious if I were ordering ingredients," I offered. "When you leave are you in disguise?"

"We try to be but it's hard. We don't have any outside connections so we can't brew a proper Polyjuice," Lily answered. "The best we can do is spells and charms and there are some people who can see through those kinds of disguises,"

"Like Nicolas Flamel," I said, nodding. "I met him in Dumbledore's office over the summer and he figured out I was from the future and everything."

"Why would Flamel be visiting Dumbledore?" Lily asked.

"C'mon, Lil, even Dumbles has to have friends," James laughed at the accusation.

"James, don't you know what Flamel is famous for?" Lily asked. He shook his head. "He created the Sorcerer's Stone," James kept a blank face. "The elixir of life?"

"Never heard of it,"

"You're from a pureblood family!"

"So?"

"Keena, did you know what it was?" Lily asked, exasperatedly as she tried to prove her point.

"The first time I heard of it? No I had no idea, but I'm a muggle-born," I added.

"So you know what it is now?"

"Yes,"

"Why would you need to know what it was?"

"Where are you going with this?" I asked, my lips twitching.

"Is Dumbledore hiding the stone at the school? Is that what those people were after at Gringotts? Of course! And that's why you had to come to Hogwarts for the first week, to check the how safe it was being kept! But why would Flamel bring it to a school? Won't that put the children in danger? What about Harry!"

"Lily, slow down," I said alarmed at the rate she had pieced everything together. "Everything will be fine, trust me I know, I've already been there," This seemed to calm her down a little. "However, I think you two should be more careful about leaving this cabin. The forest isn't safe and that stone could be an attraction for certain people," I said, careful with my wording.

"Voldemort's going to come after it, isn't he?" James asked bluntly. "Well, there's nothing we can do except look for the Horcruxes. Until then we're nothing against him. He's already torn our family apart once; I won't let him do it again,"

"We've been trying to think of ways to get back into Harry's life," Lily added, looking at me. "That night we made so many choices so quickly but we don't regret them. Well, we do, I would have loved to have been there when he got his letter or his first broom ride…"

"We decided we're going to make the world safe for him before we can go back. We'll finish off what Horcruxes we can then go to Harry." James took over when Lily's voice failed her.

"That could be a very long time, James," I said quietly.

"What other choice do we have? We can't just come out from hiding after doing nothing! People would think we were cowardly, they wouldn't understand that we were doing what was best for Harry. He's safest at Petunia's house because nobody knows he's there except for you and Remus. He was able to grow up without a burden of fame for something he doesn't remember. And judging by what you've told us in your letters he's a son that we can be proud of."

"You're right, you should be very proud of him. Unfortunately when he was back in our time at the end of fifth year he was still an orphan. I don't know if we've changed that know or not, do you?" James shrugged and Lily looked at the ground. "If not then you won't have destroyed the Horcruxes by his fifth year. If so then maybe he just kept some information to himself. There's no way for us to know,"

"What matters is that he's got someone who is there for him when he needs somebody the most, and right now, Keena, that someone will most likely end up being you," James answered.

"Not for much longer though," I said, sadly. "I've only got a couple more years of being 'Keena' then it's back to 'Kailey' for me. Dumbledore still doesn't know the effects and we haven't come up with a cover story yet. It will most likely involve 'Keena' disconnecting 'herself' from society. Actually I was thinking it could have something to do with Sirius for an excuse—people are under the impression that I was influenced by him,"

"You're going to have to tell Harry otherwise he'll think you've left him," Lily said.

"That's what Remus said when I discussed this with him last. He says I'm getting too connected with him and he thinks that will end badly."

"That's Moony for you," James nodded.

"When can we tell him? Or will your being alive just remain a secret until you reveal yourselves to Harry?" I asked.

"I think it's best that we stick to what we first decided. If he figures it out then great! If not…well then he doesn't," James said. "It's not as if we don't trust him but I don't think he'd really understand our point."

"Not to mention he's against research for the cure of Lycanthropy isn't he? Something about not wanting a reason to get his hopes up too much?" Lily questioned.

"Yes, but that will all change as soon as I get you the ingredients," I agreed. "Who knows, maybe he'll even test something for you once you know that it isn't dangerous,"

* * *

"But why not Remus?" I begged. It was a week before the students got out for the holidays and I wanted to know why Harry couldn't come to visit us.

"Because you don't remember him going away from Hogwarts during the holidays," Remus said pointedly. He hadn't even allowed me to ask Dumbledore—he claimed he 'knew' the answer. Typical of him, really.

"So? What's one tiny memory?"

"I said no,"

"Pretty please? With chocolate sauce on top?" I begged.

He paused for a second before shaking his head. "No!" I crossed my arms like a four year old would have and made a puppy-dog pout-face. "That won't work on me," I intensified the pout. "I said it won't work, Harry cannot come here for the holidays," as a last resort I transformed into my wolf animagus and gave him the biggest puppy eyes I could manage and I added a whimper for good measure. He groaned and I grinned.

"Fine, we can ask the headmaster if we can see him," he muttered. "But only for a little bit," he added, holding up a finger.

"You're the best Moony!" I shouted.

"I can't speak wolfish, remember?"

I transformed back and gave Remus a huge hug. "You rock, Moony," I said before running upstairs to grab a cloak.

"Where are you going?" he shouted up the stairs.

"We need cloaks so we can go see Dumbly!" I shouted back.

"I didn't say we could go right now! Honestly, you're like a two year old!"

"I am not two! I'm eleven!" I said as I ran back down the stairs, throwing Remus' cloak at him. "And you would do well to remember that I've got to start acting liking a teenager again,"

"I don't think any of you ever stopped, really. I think Lily, Amanda and I are the only ones that grew up," he said, shaking his head.

"Yes, well at least I've got an excuse," I said, sticking out my tongue.

"Watch your manners, young lady, or I won't let you see Harry on Christmas,"

"Moony!" I whined.

"I'm just kidding, calm down,"

We flooed to the Hogwart's Visitors fireplace and made our way to the headmaster's office. It was a Wednesday and so all of the students were in their various classes. We arrived at Dumbledore's office and figured out the password only to find an empty office at the top of the rotating staircase. One of the portraits informed us that Dumbledore was away from the grounds on personal business and to go and find McGonagall if we really needed something. Naturally that was really no help to us, well not in my opinion.

We headed for the Transfiguration classroom in any case to find it full of mischievous third years. Meaning Fred and George of course. Just as we entered McGonagall was beginning a tirade against the twins for transfiguring a Slytherin girl's hair into rubber snakes.

"You are not to use your abilities, good as they may be, for that sort of amusement!"

"So you admit to us amusing you, Professor?" Fred demanded.

"By George! Fred, I think we've got it!" George exclaimed.

"I did not say you were amusing!" McGonagall shouted, flustered, something Mickey rarely ever is when admonishing students.

"But you implied it," reasoned Fred.

"Which is as good as saying it," George said, excitedly.

"This puts us one step closer to the mysterious Marauders!" They chorused.

I snorted and the classroom turned their attention to us.

"It takes a lot more than a compliment from McGonagall to put you on the same playing field as the Marauders," Remus admitted to the class.

"How would you know?" one of the nosy Slytherins demanded.

Suddenly, his sandy brown hair turned bright blonde and grew into two pig tails with pink checkered ribbons. The Gryffindor half of the class burst into laughter and even some of the less guarded Slytherins managed a sneer.

"Wow, whoever did that must have been good," I said, laughing.

"Lots of practice obviously went into that one," Remus agreed. He would never admit to having been the one to jinx the boy. If he did it would mean revealing the fact that four of the Marauders had learned how to do wandless magic for the simpler pranks at an early age (the end of third year to be exact).

"Mr. Lupin, Ms. McIntosh, to what do I owe this disruption?"

"Probably Fred and George," I said, still smiling. It quickly faded and I felt like I was being put into detention the way McGonagall was looking at me. "Sorry, Professor," I muttered.

"We're actually here for Dumbledore, but we've been directed to you," Remus said, becoming his regular old adult self once more.

"I'm afraid it will have to wait until after this lesson is over," she began just as the bell rang. "Or more specifically after I've finished with four mischief makers,"

The third years vacated the classroom while Fred, George, Remus and I made our way to the front of the room looking properly ashamed. I caught Fred's eye and winked and he nudged George.

"We really are sorry, Professor," Remus began.

"Yes, I don't know what took control of me," I stated.

"It really was perfectly improper of us to do that to such a sweet," Fred began.

"And innocent girl," George ended.

"Incredibly immature," Remus shook his head.

"Horribly behaving," I added.

"Awfully mischievous," Fred said, wiping a fake tear.

"And downright inappropriate," George said in dead seriousness.

The four of us looked at the floor, saying nothing more giving McGonagall time to digest the situation.

"I believe that the best course of action would be lines," she said at last.

"Lines?" the twins groaned.

"For all four of you,"

"Professor?" Remus and I asked. "Can you do that?" Remus tried to clarify.

"While you are in my classroom I am always the teacher and you, yes even you Mr. Lupin, are always the student. Lines,"

Dumbledore arrived back in his office to find two thirteen year olds and two thirty-one year olds writing lines on desks in front of McGonagall.

He just shook his head and chuckled. "Some things never change,"

**Okay, that's the end of this chapter! I promise I'll get 25 up as quickly as possible! Don't forget to review! I love reviews! **

**:-D**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five: Surprise!

**All credit for Harry Potter**** and anything recognized**** goes to J. K. Rowling. I'm nothing.**

**Thanks to my reviewers! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

"Moony! Wake up! We've gotta go to Hogwarts!" I sang, skipping into Remus' bedroom on Christmas morning. Dumbledore had said it would be fine to visit Harry on Christmas and we were invited to stay for the Hogwarts Christmas dinner.

"Five more minutes," he groaned into his pillow. I tore off his covers and he just buried his head deeper into his pillow. "Go away," he muttered, his voice muffled by the pillow. Shaking my head, I flicked my wand and snow began falling from the ceiling onto Remus' bed. "Keena!" he shouted when he finally deduced what was going on.

"It's Christmas Moony! We're supposed to go and see Harry!"

"But Harry is probably still sleeping," he accused, glaring at me and pointing to the clock on his bedside table which read eleven thirty.

"All the more reason for us to hurry," I stated, throwing up a small shield as a purple blast was sent my way. "Tsk tsk, must I take back all of your presents, Remmy?" the nickname earned me another blast but this time I fired back and Remus found himself looking very much like a snow man. A mistake on my part because next thing I knew a mountain of snow was racing towards me.

We arrived at Hogwarts a little past one and in time for the Christmas dinner. We were greeted loudly by the Weasleys as well as Harry.

"Thanks for the watch, guys," Harry said, grinning and gesturing to the present.

"I charmed it so it's also water proof," Remus said.

"I told him we should make it flame retardant too, but he said no," I added sadly. Harry and Ron and the twins all laughed at the face I made and Remus rolled his eyes.

Dinner appeared on the tables and Dumbledore made a quick toast before we all dug in. The twins were soon in their own little world discussing topics that would make Molly ground them in advance. Remus and I were talking with Ron and Harry about how their first year at Hogwarts was now that it was half over.

"What else did you get for Christmas, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Well I got this cloak, but there was no note saying who it was from it just said it used to be my dad's and to use it well," Harry said, frowning a little. "Do you know who had it before he died?"

I looked over my shoulder to make sure that everyone was having a conversation with someone else before I leaned in closer. The others followed my lead.

"Dumbledore was the last person that I knew had it. He took it for some secret missions he went on, I think, he never really explained to us why he had it really," I answered. "But you had better keep that between the two of you, we wouldn't want people thinking the headmaster was giving you special treatment," I winked and Harry nodded.

"I remember that cloak, we got into a lot of trouble with it," Remus said, gazing off in memory land.

"I remember the trouble we got into _without_ it," I laughed.

* * *

The months passed and I remained on paid leave. At least I was still being paid but it didn't help that I had very little to do all day long. I thought about getting a pet but Remus reminded me I only had another year to wait until I was back in my own time.

I kept in contact with Lily and James and they said that they were doing well in their research but there was something in the forest and they didn't feel very confident about leaving their cabin too much. I also received a letter from Hogwarts informing me that Harry had received a detention and would be going into the forest to serve it. I hesitated about whether or not I should tell Dumbledore not to allow the detention and to have them serve lines instead but I remembered entering the forest and decided it was best to keep what was to happen to myself.

I also got a letter from Harry telling me what he had been doing to deserve the detention. I wrote back telling him that I wasn't mad at him but he should be more careful not to forget the cloak. Remus got his two cents in by telling Harry that he shouldn't have been out in the middle of the night in the first place (not that either of us could really talk). He did, however, commend Harry for his loyalty to helping Hagrid with the dragon situation. I was amazed that Lily didn't try to send me a howler after I told her and James about it, actually. She had not been happy to find out what the detention was for.

The night after the detention I got another letter from the school telling me what had happened in the forest. Apparently Harry had been saved by a stag and then carried out of the forest by a centaur.

"He was saved by a stag?" Remus asked, putting the letter down and staring at me. He had read the letter first because I had said I knew what it was about. "Why would a stag save Harry?"

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "Maybe it was just another centaur and Harry was seeing things,"

"No, it was according to the centaur that a stag had led him to Harry. How many animals want to help a wizard?"

"Any that are from a story book?" I tried.

"You know, I haven't said anything, but you've been getting and mailing a lot of letters lately. Who are they all from?"

"I don't know, just random people I guess," my voice faded out to nothing as Remus began giving me The Look.

"Keena, what is it you're not telling me?"

I took a big breath and headed for the living room and sat down, Remus followed in suit.

"Swear you won't get mad first, okay?" I said looking at him seriously. He nodded, though his eyes were fixed on mine. "Desino Letum does work. I was in the house when Voldemort came calling. He killed James first and then he came upstairs to where I was trying to get Lily to leave with Harry. There were barriers and we were stuck. Voldemort saw me and said something about Dementors being able to perform Legilimens before binding me with ropes. Then he turned to Lily and killed her too and the rest…well that's history. After the house fell I got up and uncovered Harry and laid him on a blanket. I then went and found Lily and James in the rubble. I brought James back first and then he brought Lily back." I paused so that Remus had a second to digest all of what I had just told him.

"So you were there in the house?"

"Yes," I said nodding. I had never told anyone that I had witnessed the murders, it hadn't seemed important.

"But I saw them. At their wake, they were dead,"

"No, James and I transfigured two beams to look and feel like Lily and James so that everyone would think they were dead. They wanted to keep Harry safe, that's why they left. They knew he could grow up thinking he was normal in the muggle world and that he'd be safest away from any sort of publicity. They didn't want him to come into hiding with them because they didn't know where they were going to go or how they would provide for themselves, much less a growing boy,"

"But they've settled now? Why can't they come back?"

"They've been looking for why Voldemort didn't die. I've only seen them a couple of times. Once to become their secret keeper and the second was so they could tell me about their suspicions for Voldemort's survival."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"At first it was because we didn't know if there would be any after effects from the spell. I thought they were dead for a really long time because they hadn't contacted me. It was just easier to keep it to three people," I said. "But we decided long ago that if anyone ever figured it out we would let them know they were right."

"So that was James who saved Harry? Do they live in the forest?"

"Yeah, they live really far in away from the castle," I said. "I'm sorry, Moony; they seemed so out of options,"

We stayed quiet for a few minutes while Remus took in all of the information.

"Does Harry know?" he asked, finally.

"No," I replied in a near whisper. "They want to destroy what they can of Voldemort before they go back to Harry. They don't want to risk losing everything twice,"

"They didn't have to lose it the first time," he answered in monotone. "Something could have been arranged."

"There was nothing we could have done, Remus. That doesn't make anything feel better but I did look for other options,"

"Can we go see them?" he asked, somewhat desperately.

"If you want, I'll write to them and tell them we're coming to see them,"

He nodded, though he still seemed to be in a state of shock, not that I blamed him.

"Maybe you should just sit here for a little bit, I'll get you a calming drought," he nodded slowly and I walked into the kitchen. Along with the potion I brought out some parchment and a quill so that I could write a letter telling Lily and James they should expect us soon. When I reentered the living room it was to find Remus covering his face with both hands. He heard me come in and he quickly sobered up, as though trying to hide his emotions away.

"Thanks," he said when I handed him the calming draught. He drank it in small sips, deep in his thoughts. "So was it their idea to get Harry a watch for Christmas?"

"Yes, James asked me if I would—his father did the same for him when he got into Hogwarts," I answered.

"To think they've been alive all this time…It's just so…shocking."

"It's a lot to swallow—we helped them cheat death,"

"And now they're trying to figure out how Voldemort did it? But how do they even know where to look and how do they look?" His logical thinking meant that the potion was working.

"You mean how do they keep themselves hidden? Charms and transfiguration spells is what they told me. I suppose they look in libraries but I don't know of any that helped explain Voldemort's obsession," I admitted. "Although, they seem to think that they're close to figuring out how to destroy him."

"But how did he survive?"

"He used Horcruxes,"

"In the plural?" Remus asked, perplexed. "Isn't that dangerous to his soul?"

"Very," I nodded. "Though that probably makes the job of destroying them a little bit easier," I added as an afterthought.

"Perhaps I could do some research at the bookshop," he said, rubbing his chin with his left hand while his right scratched his head.

* * *

Lily and James wrote back telling us not to come until the term ended. The 'creature' in the forest had not left after Prongs had scared it away and they had found an almost fatally wounded unicorn right outside of their cabin just a week after the scare. They also asked me to make certain that Harry would not be entering the forest again anytime soon. I wrote back agreeing and telling them that Remus had found some books he thought might be useful and he bought them as an anonymous customer and promised to bring them when we visited. He probably figured (as did I) that the quicker the Horcruxes were destroyed the quicker Lily and James would be able to reunite themselves with Harry and the Wizarding World.

It was late June now and I had just come home from taking a walk and I found myself being pulled inside by a frantic Remus. Without saying a word he tossed me my cloak and headed for the floo. Looking at the coffee table, I noticed a letter with the Hogwarts seal embedded on the envelope.

"Remus, don't have a heart attack," I said as he thrusted the floo powder at me, still not having said a word. "Harry will be fine, remember? You saw him when he was a fifth year," Though he still didn't reply I could tell my reminder had made him feel a bit easier.

"Dumbledore's office, now," he said in a low voice.

I didn't argue and went through the fireplace first, moving out of the way quickly so that Remus didn't squish me. He dusted himself off and pointed to a chair which I immediately took a seat in.

"Keena, Remus, nice of you to join us," Dumbledore said pleasantly from behind his desk. McGonagall was standing next to Remus' chair. "Judging by his reaction, I take it you forgot to inform Mr. Lupin of what would be occurring at the end of Harry's first year?" he smiled pleasantly and Remus supplied me with a withering look.

"It sort of…slipped my mind? But even if it hadn't what would you have wanted me to say? 'Oh, Moony, by the way, Harry is going to go down into a secret passage and nearly kill himself for the sake of a stone against Voldemort and a possessed Quirrell'?"

"A little bit of warning would have been nice," Remus admitted.

"It would have been nice on our part as well," McGonagall added, stiffly. "Do you even comprehend the shock we were all in? We all thought that Harry was done for!"

"You honestly think I would allow that? Especially after all that has happened to him?" I asked her, seriously. All three of them looked away to avoid answering. "Is he awake?"

"No, that is why we needed to have you both come immediately," Dumbledore stated. "He has been unconscious since yesterday when I retrieved him and Poppy is unsure as to when he will wake up,"

"It shouldn't be terribly long; he'll be up in time to get dismissed by Poppy's standards to go to the feast. Well, you sort of had to convince her if I remember correctly," I said. "Could I stay with him until he wakes up, though? I wouldn't be much of a godmother if I didn't at least stay,"

"I still think you should have prevented it," McGonagall muttered and Remus nodded his head.

"This was already a part of my history and I can't use my knowledge like that, especially when nobody's death is involved. That was the agreement I made with the headmaster," I said, nodding towards Dumbledore how nodded his head in confirmation of what I had said.

McGonagall let out an impatient huff before excusing herself saying she needed to grade papers. Dumbledore led Remus and I to the all too familiar Hospital Wing. The doors were crowded around by a number of students holding cards and boxes of candy.

"Headmaster, good, would you please tell all of these children to leave the hospital immediately? They may be interfering with my patients' recovery!" Madame Pomfrey said flustered.

Without saying anything, Dumbledore gave the students a look and they all scurried away as though they feared being punished so close to the end of the year. After the last of the students had departed, we entered the wing to find a couple of the beds in use. Ron and Harry were at the other end of the wing, Ron was staring at the ceiling and Harry was still out.

"Professor! Finally, can you please tell Madame Pomfrey that I'm well enough to leave now?" Ron practically begged. He had a couple of minor scratches along one side of his face and his wrist was wrapped to make sure the magic held.

"How long have you been awake for?" I asked before Dumbledore could answer.

"I woke up yesterday! I don't know what the big deal is, it's not like I'm…" he looked over at Harry's unmoving body.

"He'll be fine, Ron, don't worry," the three of us turned around to see Hermione and myself (Kailey) coming into the wing. I felt myself give a little gasp at seeing 'Kailey'. It was like an out of body experience. Unconsciously, I moved myself a little closer to Remus to avoid 'Kailey' seeing me.

Remus snorted, bringing everybody's attention to him. "Great minds think alike I suppose," he said quietly. I glared at him.

"Honestly, you make it sound as if I don't worry at all!" I accused. "If it were anything life threatening we'd be in St. Mungo's!" he shrugged off my point and I folded my arms.

"Poppy, does Mr. Weasley have any real reason to stay any longer?" Dumbledore asked before our conversation could continue. "He looks fine to me; however, I am not a qualified healer,"

Madame Pomfrey huffed and folded her own arms. "I suppose I could let him leave. But no more of this hero business! I have never had a batch of first years visit me so much in one year," she rambled on as she flicked her wand, dressing Ron in his school uniform. "Now, no more visitors, all of you out! Mr. Potter will need to rest when he awakens in any case,"

I watched as Hermione, Ron and 'Kailey' scurried out of the wing without argument. They would be back later, I could tell by their looks of determination—not to mention the fact that I remembered our plan to sneak out with Harry's cloak.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Madame Pomfrey.

"How long will he be in here for?" I asked.

"As long as I determine," she answered. "He will not be allowed out for a few days after he wakes up," she added.

"And when do you expect that to be?" Remus asked.

"Maybe another day or so, but I have never seen a child have to go through something like this. He is magically exhausted, although I would not inform him of that, it might give him cause for worry."

"So, you're thinking about two days?" I asked for clarification. She nodded her head before heading to her office. I sighed and took a seat next to Harry's bed.

"I shall leave you two to your privacy," Dumbledore said before leaving the wing.

I rubbed my head with both hands before looking at Remus who had taken a seat on Harry's other side. "What are you going to tell them?" Remus asked.

"I don't know," I said simply. "Anything I say will most likely make them both want to throttle me—not that I'm saying I blame them," I added before Remus could say he would have agreed.

"I'm not so sure."

"Not so sure of what?" I asked surprised.

"I think that the trust they have in you is strong enough to keep them from killing you, but I wouldn't rule out an attempted hex or two," he said with a smile which I returned.

"Shall we spend the night?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.

"If you want to," he replied shrugging. "I'll give my boss notice," he said, getting up to go write a letter to the book store he worked at.

"Will you explain to Lily and James as well?" I asked before he got too far. He nodded and headed out of the wing. I sighed again and turned to face Harry's sleeping face. "Harry, you are far too much like your father," I muttered. Seeing Harry lying on that hospital bed reminded me of the night Mrs. Potter had died. James had had to rest to recover from the shock and from the inferi wounds. It was unnerving to see Harry unmoving.

Remus came back and we talked for a little while before we each fell silent. Around five Dumbledore invited us to join everybody in the Great Hall for dinner. We declined the invitation and ate in the Hospital Wing.

Later that night I was startled by a noise. Immediately I took my wand out and stood up. I looked over at Remus who was also standing in the defensive position on the other side of Harry's bed. Before either of us could say anything there was another loud bang as a candlestick came smashing to the ground. I sent a jinx towards where the candle had fallen. I heard a yelp and then saw as Ron fell out of nowhere.

"Ron? What are you doing here?" Remus asked as I rushed over to help him up and perform the counter curse.

"Come out of the cloak, you two," I said, working hard to hide my smile. Sure enough, Hermione and 'Kailey' stepped out from underneath the cloak and Hermione put it in her pocket.

"We just wanted to come and see Harry, sir," Hermione answered Remus. "We're worried,"

"Relax, we're not teachers," I said.

"But you three really shouldn't be out of bed," Remus added when I failed to reprimand them. I felt I would be too much of a hypocrite for admonishing myself—present, past or future.

"Yes, sir," the threesome chorused.

"You can come and visit him when he wakes up, okay?" I promised.

"Alright, Keena," Ron said and the three of them headed back towards the door.

"Don't forget the cloak," Remus said just as they were about to exit the wing. Hermione blushed as she took it out of her pocket and threw it over the three of them. I watched the door open and close on its own accord before sitting back down in the chair I had fallen asleep in.

The next afternoon Dumbledore came to visit. Ten minutes after his arrival we heard a soft moan come from Harry. The three of us fell silent and turned to face Harry.

"Professor, Keena, Remus? Is that you?" he asked, his voice cracking a little because he hadn't used it in so long. I handed Harry his glasses then pulled him into a hug.

"You gave us all quite a scare, even if some of us won't admit it," Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"How long was I out for?" Harry asked, confused. "What happened to Quirrell? What about Voldemort! Oh no, what about Ron and Hermione and Kailey?" he panicked more and more with each name.

"Your friends are fine," Dumbledore said, holding up a hand. "You must relax or Madame Pomfrey will kick us out," he warned.

"Please, she couldn't keep me in here, how on earth do you expect her to kick me out?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"As for Quirrell, he was unable to survive without Voldemort inside of him. There was nothing anybody could do," Dumbledore stated. "Voldemort's soul (for that is what I have decided it was) has disappeared once more."

"Sir, why couldn't he touch me?" Harry asked immediately. "Does it have anything to do with why he died?"

"Harry, Quirrell's body would have failed him in about a month. It wasn't him that couldn't bear to touch you, it was Voldemort." Remus said firmly. "Anything that happened to Quirrell as a result was Voldemort's fault and his alone. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded silently.

"Voldemort couldn't touch you because of the protection your mother gave you when she died," Dumbledore added. "She loved you enough that her sacrifice left you with a mark of love that flows through your veins,"

"So that's why I have to live with the Dursleys? Because Aunt Petunia is a blood relative?" Harry guessed.

"Precisely," Dumbledore nodded, sounding pleased that Harry had figured it out. "This protection must be refueled annually or else it would most likely fail,"

"Why did Voldemort choose me, sir?" Harry asked. "What happened that made him want to come after me so badly that he killed both of my parents to get to me?"

"That, my dear Harry, is a question I will answer when you are older." I shot Dumbledore a look which he ignored and Harry didn't press the issue.

Remus and I stayed a little bit longer with Harry before we went home. Before we left, however, Harry made us promise that he could come and visit us at least once over the summer. I agreed in a heartbeat and we decided that we would just pick Harry up at a random date.

As soon as we arrived home an owl flew in the window. In its beak was a scarlet letter.

"KEENA MCINTOSH AND REMUS LUPIN!" Lily's voice shouted, causing the house to shake. Remus and I both quickly cast silencing charms around the house and kitchen before she could continue. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO MY SON! I DON'T CARE IF YOU KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE WILL BE ALRIGHT, I DO NOT WANT YOU TO WILLINGLY ALLOW HIM TO PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN! I EXPECT YOU BOTH TO GIVE HIM A STERN TALKING TO FROM ME!"

"Lily, calm down," James' voice interrupted the recording. "I'm sorry guys, I tried to reason with her but she just won't get past the fact that Harry met Voldemort. Remus, I suggest you work on your explanation skills—you said the whole thing kind of bluntly, mate,"

"Bluntly!" Lily shrieked back. "Of course it was blunt! They didn't have any idea what was going to happen!"

"Lily, you met him when he was fifteen, it's obvious he was going to survive--"

"He told you didn't he!" Lily's voice suddenly accused.

"Um…maybe?"

"JAMES NATHANIEL POTTER! HOW DARE YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME! WHAT ELSE DID OUR SON TELL YOU?"

"Sorry about the message guys, hope to see you soon if my wife doesn't kill me first!"

With that the message burst into orange flames before we could hear Lily's reply.

I looked at Remus in shock before we both burst out laughing.

"See? I'm not the only one with a calm opinion towards the whole thing," I said finally. "James seems to agree with me,"

"Well you both had the unfair advantage of knowing this was going to happen," Remus said fairly. "But, just to be safe, maybe you should tell them about your second year,"

"Yes, because I really want to get killed before I reach my own time," I said sarcastically.

"Merlin, what's happening next year?" he asked, a grin hinting on his face. I hesitated.

"Moony…do you remember when you asked me about a basilisk?" I asked carefully.

He didn't reply, but paled drastically before running to the potions cabinet. I watched as he chugged down a large vial of calming draught.

**Okay, that's the end of this lengthy chapter! Well, it feels lengthy to me. I hope you enjoyed it! Please don't forget to review! Next up is chapter 26!**

**:-D**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-six: A Last Summer

**I disclaim it all because it all belongs to J.K. Rowling! **

**I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update! Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

It was the second week of summer vacation for Hogwarts students and Harry was going to come stay with us for two days and one night. Remus was on edge and we were expecting a howler from Lily any day, we were just hoping she would remember the dates we had put into the letter telling them when Harry was going to be at the house. I had a feeling all three of them wanted me to interfere with the whole Chamber of Secrets deal, but the only problem I could see was that the diary needed to be destroyed (I had neglected to mention it was a horcrux—I would tell them once the shock had toned down).

"Ready to go and get Harry, Remus?" I asked when he came downstairs for breakfast.

"We're not getting him until a godly hour, I already told you that," he said shaking his head. "You act like a hyperactive five-year-old sometimes,"

"Hey, seven o'clock is a godly hour! And it's more like a twelve-year-old anyway, Moony," I replied.

"Either way, you still don't act your age,"

"You mean I don't act '_Keena's__'_ age, I do, however, act '_Kailey's__'_ age," I corrected.

"Do I have to go and tell Harry we can't take him?" Remus asked, talking as if I were four.

"Oh right, because you don't want to take every opportunity to make sure you've imprinted in his head how important it is to walk around Hogwarts using a mirror just in case some mythical beast was to appear?" I asked, laughing.

"I've been thinking about that, actually," he said seriously. "I think maybe it would be best if you and I homeschooled Harry this year. I could go somewhere once a month so that he wouldn't find out about…"

"You're furry little problem? No, Remus, we can't do that. Harry needs Hogwarts as much as you did. His needs may be a little different, but he still needs that place."

"But it's going to be very dangerous,"

"Moony, every year at Hogwarts has the potential of being a danger, it just comes in different forms,"

"What do you think Lily will say to that?"

"It hardly matters what she'll say, to the wizarding community I have legal rights over what Harry can and cannot do while he is at Hogwarts," I replied, placing my cereal bowl to the sink. "Now, what exactly is a godly hour Moony?"

We ended up getting Harry at eleven. I knocked on the door and it was opened by a surprised looking Petunia.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, ushering us inside before any neighbors took notice of us. "We haven't done anything to the boy," she began defending.

"What are you talking about? We're here to take Harry for the night," Remus answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Does he know you're taking him?"

"We wrote to him last week," I answered. "Could you please get him?"

She shouted up the stairs for Harry to come down, still throwing minor glares at Remus and myself whenever she could spare a look. "You're godmother is here," she said before walking into the kitchen.

"Keena, Remus," Harry cried as he saw us. "I didn't know you were coming! You haven't answered any of my letters,"

"What are you talking about, Harry? You haven't answered any of ours," Remus said perplexed, giving me a questioning look. Then it hit me. Dobby. "Keena? Do you have any ideas?"

I mentally shook myself out of the daze and replied, "Probably just some pranksters, happens all the time. Don't worry, Harry, I still have some friends in the ministry—we'll get it all sorted out. In the meantime, would you still like to spend the night?"

His entire face lit up and he grinned enthusiastically. He nodded and dashed back upstairs with Remus following so that he could help Harry figure out what to bring. I went into the kitchen and told Petunia we would bring him back some time tomorrow. She seemed disappointed that he would be back so quickly but before I left the kitchen she had dialed the phone to tell Vernon that they could eat out that night.

We did a side-along apparition to get back to the house quicker. Harry went with Remus and I took all of his things (a rucksack with clothes, toothbrush, his wand and a shrunken broomstick). Harry stumbled a little when he and Remus landed and muttered something about preferring a broom.

"You'll get used to apparation by the time one can get your license. In the meantime, where do you want to go for lunch? We could go to Diagon Alley or even Hogsmede if you want," I suggested. "Oh! Or we could go get lunch at the Three Broomsticks and then back to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor! You wouldn't believe half the flavors," I said enthusiastically. Both Harry and Remus stared with wide eyes before exchanging a look and bursting out laughing. "What? Is that too complicated?"

"No, but are you sure you can handle anymore sugar today?" Remus asked. "And here I was thinking Harry would be high on life today," he added and Harry nodded. "Well, Harry, how does that plan sound?"

"It sounds like fun, but could we not apparate? Or is that the only way?"

"It's the fastest way and if we're going from Hogsmede to Diagon Alley we'll need the extra time," Remus answered. Harry sighed a little but nodded happily all the same.

After lunch and exploring around Diagon Alley for a little while we took Harry to a wizard park. Essentially it was the same as a muggle park except instead of playing a game of catch; for example, we would fly around playing with a Quaffle or some other Quidditch ball. When night fell there was a small display of fireworks before we took Harry home. Remus supplied us all with hot chocolate before we sat down in the living room to discuss the day. It was getting late and I could tell Remus was about ready to send Harry to bed when he asked a question.

"How did my parents meet?" it was so out of the blue that it took me a second to digest what he had said. "Or were neither of you there?"

"I was there," I answered. "They met in Diagon Alley a couple days before we boarded the Hogwarts Express. See, I was blind back then and a muggle-born so I had been sent to live with your grandparents and dad. Whenever your grandmother took us to Diagon Alley during that first summer James and I would wander off on our own. Your dad was a flirt and liked to ask me my opinion on potential girlfriends. He spotted Lily in the bookshop and decided to find out how she would react to seeing a blind girl stuck in a bookstore on her own. Unfortunately Lily didn't like the idea too much and their first conversation was an argument." I said laughing.

Harry looked surprised at first then smiled. "I should have known what with my history that they wouldn't meet the same way other couples did. When did they get together?"

"Um…I want to say around the beginning or ending of sixth year, I don't really remember," I answered, scratching my head.

"Lily didn't approve of our method of fun; she always thought that James and the rest of us were immature. Well, mostly James,"

"What did you do for fun?"

"Well, Harry, you know the tricks the Weasley twins play on people? Well, they're tame compared to the stuff we used to pull," I answered, grinning. "Changing people's hair color to getting Slytherin's stuck in the staircases. In fact, we were the first group successful in pranking teachers without getting in trouble for it," I stated proudly.

"Not only that, but we also successfully pranked Professor Dumbledore," Remus added. "You know how he likes to run his hand through his beard? Well he took that habit up after we turned it into tinsel,"

Harry looked shocked. "Did you get Professor Snape too?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Harry, how old do you think Snape is?" I asked laughing. "He was our prime target in school, but he was in our year."

"You mean he's not…old?" Remus and I burst out laughing.

"Depends what you consider old," Remus said once he had stopped laughing. "It's late, Harry, you should get to bed." Harry made a puppy-dog face that reminded me of both James and Sirius but Remus just shook his head and Harry gave in.

* * *

THUD!

Remus and I jumped from our seats at the kitchen table and turned to look out the window. The morning after Harry went back to the Dursley's we had received the howler from Lily along with apologies from James so neither of us was expecting any mail. We got up and walked over to the window somewhat cautiously. Lying on the ground frozen was the Weasley's bird, Errol.

"Is he dead?" Remus asked. I shrugged—that bird was a ticking time-bomb. Before we could do anything the bird seemed to snap out of its trance and it flew up to the window sill. I let out a small breath I had been holding and I realized how bad it would have been if Errol had killed himself by flying into our window.

Remus took the letter from Errol's leg and he carried said bird over to the sink where he filled a bowl with water for the elderly bird to drink from. I recognized the writing on the envelope and realized that Harry was most likely at the Weasley's house now.

"It's from Molly," Remus said looking down the letter. "Listen to what she says:

_Dear Remus and Keena,_

_Last night my foolish sons (I'm sure you can figure out which ones) took Arthur's car for a drive to Little Whinging, Surrey! I am writing to tell you not to worry about Harry's sudden disappearance; I know how much you must worry,"_

Remus paused and gave me a look. "What? Why is it everyone thinks I don't worry? I do! Just not about the little things or stuff that I know is going to work out!" I defended immediately. Remus rolled his eyes and continued.

_"We hope to get your consent, however, to allow Harry to spend the remainder of the summer here at the Burrow. We will take good care of him, I assure you, as well as get him safely onto Platform 9 ¾. Hoping you are well,_

_Molly Weasley"_

"We should write back to her or floo call or something," I said. "Or maybe just floo over so we can give Errol back—I don't think he can fly again for a little while at least,"

"Maybe even write to Lily and James to tell them where he's staying," Remus added. "I don't know if they retained any of the information not involving the chamber,"

"Yes I'm sure they would love the fact that Harry is running away from his family the way Sirius did in fifth year," I said sarcastically. I stopped talking abruptly and looked with wide eyes at Remus. We hadn't talked about Sirius in years, not even his name. Remus' jaw clenched and he paled visibly. I could feel my face heating up and I looked away from him.

"Harry is nothing like Sirius," Remus muttered, and I could tell he was trying to restrain his anger. "Nothing at all, they are completely different."

"They are more alike than you would like to acknowledge," I said quietly. "Ask Lily and James if you want, they'll tell you,"

"No, I won't bring up to them that they're best friend betrayed them," Remus answered, his tone rising slightly. "The fact that you would even suggest it is extremely inconsiderate,"

"But--"

"No, Keena, you know that he did it,"

"I know that he didn't do it. In case you don't remember, I was there. I was in the house when Voldemort showed up and I was there when he tried to kill Harry. After seeing something like that you honestly think I would defend the one who made it possible? How pathetic do you think I am?"

"It's okay to admit he fooled you, he fooled us all," Remus said, shaking his head.

"I can't believe you! How can you think like that about him?"

"Let's just get Errol back to the Weasley's," Remus muttered, obviously disappointed that my opinion of Sirius hadn't changed.

"Take him yourself, tell Harry I'm sick or something," I replied angrily, summoning my cloak. "I'm going out," I stated before he could ask me where I was going.

I apparated to my destination and wandered among the rows for a little while; the cemetery had grown since I had last visited. Finally I found Aradia's grave. I stood staring at it for a long time before I let a small tear slide down my cheek.

"You're the closest I can get to him now," I whispered.

* * *

I didn't go home until around midnight. When I got there it was to find Remus sitting in a chair and reading a book. He looked up at the sound of my apparation and set his book down. We stared at each other for a few minutes before I gave in and sat down on the couch. I leaned back and folded my arms and looked at him expectantly.

"The Weasleys and Harry will meet us in Diagon Alley tomorrow. We'll also be meeting Hermione Granger and Kailey," he said matter-of-factly. I raised an eyebrow. "But of course, you already knew that," he added and I nodded. "Are you just going to sit there in silence?" he asked finally.

"What would you have me say?" I asked in a monotone.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"You can probably guess,"

"Aradia?" he answered. I gave a slight nod and he sighed. "Harry wanted to know where you went," he said. "I told him where I thought you had gone and it seems I was right,"

"You told him I went to the grave of my soulless, dead daughter?" I nearly shouted, standing up and glaring at the werewolf. "I suppose you told him about Sirius as well?"

"All I told him was that you were visiting the cemetery and he asked who you were going to see. I told him that you had lost your daughter during the war and he didn't ask anything else. He'll probably write to you soon, to ask you how you're feeling,"

"I didn't want him to know about her," I muttered.

"What and have another secret for you to need to keep? Do you realize how much danger all these secrets could put you in? You can't do it all by yourself,"

"Maybe not but whenever I do tell the truth everyone thinks I'm going crazy," I retorted. "It's probably one of the few secrets I should keep and it also happens to be the only one nobody will ever believe. At least, not for now," I added in an undertone low enough that his werewolf senses wouldn't pick it up.

* * *

We met the Weasleys in the Leaky Cauldron but there was one small problem. Harry wasn't there. Molly frantically explained the situation before everyone took off in pairs to search for Harry. Without waiting for Remus to ask, I began leading him to Knockturn Alley. He threw me a look as we entered the street and we stopped in front of Borgin and Burke's. Remus reached for the door but I grabbed his arm before he could turn the handle.

"He's not in there?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but so is Malfoy. I don't know about you but I would rather not run into the old git," I said, pointing the blonde haired threat.

We got out of the way as Malfoy and Draco left the shop and quickly headed to Diagon Alley themselves. Not a minute later Harry came rushing out of the store himself. He almost ran in the wrong direction before Remus called out his name.

"Keena, Remus, thank God, I got lost in the floo,"

"We know, c'mon, everybody is freaking out," I said, holding up a hand before he could continue. "So, what was Malfoy up to?" I asked casually.

"He said he had stuff he wanted to get rid of because it was 'questionable'."

Remus snorted. "I don't doubt that, maybe we could give Arthur a tip and catch ourselves a rat,"

"Yeah, a shame we can only catch one rat," I said, emphasizing the last word. Remus continued staring straight in front of him.

We found everyone in front of Flourish and Blotts bookshop where there was an enormous crowd. The Weasleys, Grangers and Kailey waved us over to where they were standing in the line.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright Harry!" Molly exclaimed, taking a brush out of her large purse and wiping the soot off of Harry. "Where did you end up, dear?"

"Knockturn Alley," Remus answered. "You'll have to remind me to tell you who we saw there later, Arthur," he added to Mr. Weasley, who nodded. "What's this line for anyway?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart is doing a book signing," Hermione said, grinning with delight. Both Ginny and Kailey rolled their eyes and Ron snorted.

"Never heard of him," I stated with an air of disinterest. "At least not recently," I added so that only Remus could hear me.

Our part of the line finally got into the shop and we were able to get the books that the kids needed for the year. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Kailey, Remus, and I stayed closer to the back of the shop while Molly and Hermione went up to get their books signed. Arthur and the Grangers were talking outside of the shop. I noticed Molly gesture to the group of us in explanation for all the extra books and saw Lockhart's face light up with excitement.

"Is that really Harry Potter?" he asked loudly. The store practically rioted as the photographer from the Daily Prophet came towards us to grab Harry. I recognized the man with the camera and grabbed his arm.

"Keep your hands off my godson," I said venomously.

"Good lord, _you're_ still allowed near him?" the man asked, quivering a little.

"Yes, of course I am, now get away. Harry will go up there if he wants to," I growled and the camera man backed off. Lockhart, however, had made his way to where we were standing.

"I can assure you, madam, that your godson will be quite safe with me," he said, trying to get closer to Harry but I blocked him.

I scoffed. "You probably can't handle a band of Cornish pixies. In fact I don't recall you ever fighting in the war, or was it before your time?"

"Well before, unfortunately, or else Harry here may not have needed to rescue the wizarding world," I raised my eyebrow but Lockhart didn't seem to take the hint. "A simple photo is all I ask, give the world some hope. Imagine, the two greatest wizards in Britain banding together to fight against evil. But alas, I'm afraid my fighting days are nearing an end." There was a collective gasp around the store. "Yes, I will be serving mankind another way from now on. I will be teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarding this year,"

It was like and explosion had gone off and all of the witches in the shop (as well as a few wizards) began cheering and in all the commotion I lost my position in front of Harry and several photos of him and Lockhart were snapped before everything died down again. By the time the line had reformed itself and I found everyone again the group had been joined by Malfoy and his son as well as Arthur.

"Keep your second-hand books, they are all your father can afford you," Malfoy sneered as he threw the tattered books back into Ginny's cauldron. Without warning (for anyone who didn't know it was going to happen) Arthur lunged at Malfoy and they broke out in a fist fight.

The next thing I knew Remus was mixed up in the fight as he tried to pull Arthur off of Malfoy the latter threw a punch at him and he joined in the fray.

"Out of the way!" I shouted and all the people who had gathered to watch scurried away as I aimed my wand carefully. I hit the three of them with a small spell and they sprang apart from one another. "I suggest you take your son and leave, Malfoy," I ordered, my wand pointing at him. With a huff the angry aristocrat summoned his son and they left quickly.

After a scolding from Molly, everyone returned home. The remainder of the summer lacked much excitement and before I knew it Harry and Ron had gotten into severe trouble for flying the car to school and Ginny was made into a Gryffindor along with Alexis. Justin and DJ were also placed in Gryffindor.

I had also received a letter which officially fired me from the Auror Office and I was now legally unemployed. Apparently I was supposed to call an on-duty Auror to break up the fight instead of 'taking the law into my own hands' as Fudge had put it in the letter. Remus, however, had still managed to keep his job and was now the only source of money for the house and the taxes.

Soon it was Halloween and I found myself being contacted by Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Keena," he said brightly as he stepped out from the fireplace. "Has Remus already gone to work?"

"Yeah, you just missed him,"

"Oh well, I was hoping you would take up a position at Hogwarts for the year."

"Really? I don't remember there being any positions needing to be filled in second year," I said scratching my head as I tried to remember.

"That's probably because you didn't need a tutor in Defense." He replied seriously. "There was a mishap, as you may remember, involving some Cornish pixies,"

I laughed out loud at the memory. It had taken a long time to find someone to get Neville down before the chandelier fell. "That was funny, though not at the time," I said, still grinning.

"Yes, well I'd like this year's O.W.L and N.E.W.T. students to pass all their exams with the sort of grades they did when you were teaching," he answered honestly. At least I think he was being honest. It hardly mattered, I was jobless and flattery will get most people anywhere. "Would you like to take the job? I'd need you to come to the castle today,"

"I'd love to come back and give reason for Severus to be completely paranoid, just let me run it by Remus and I'll be at the castle." I said brightly, concocting ways to torture Snape's imagination. It wasn't as if I'd need the job come June in any case.

**That's the end of that one! I'm really sorry that it took so long, but my laptop was being stupid and deleted all my stuff right when I was about to end the chapter so I had to start from scratch! ****In case nobody remembers (because last time they were mentioned was in chapter 19) Alexis is Nickie and Orion's daughter, DJ is Amanda and Damian's son and Justin is Lexi and Jeremy's son (they also have a daughter named Lizzie). They'll be making appearances soon I hope. Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to give me a long review (or a short one whatever works!)! Up next ****is**** 27!**

**:-D **


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-seven: Second Year Begins

**I disclaim all work that is recognized as J.K. Rowling's. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!**

The look I got from Snape as I sat down at the teacher's table on the first Saturday of the year at Hogwarts was one I will never forget. It was a look of pure hatred and shock. He had stood immediately and exited the hall causing an excited buzz for the early risers. I had just smiled and shook my head before sitting next to McGonagall.

"I take it Dumbledore didn't inform Snape of my coming here?" I asked, still smiling at his reaction.

"I can't tell you how many times I reminded him that he should hold a staff meeting but he just shrugged it off saying everyone would realize you were back," she replied. "He seemed to think it would become clear after your first prank." She said in a tone of indifference but I could tell she was trying to get me to admit to what I had planned.

"Oh no, Mickey, it would just be cruel to do something without him knowing I was in the building," I said, shaking my head. "But I do have something big planned—I'm ready to completely shock the school," I added, grinning. McGonagall looked as if she wanted to say something but thought better of it and just shook her head. "So who do you think is most likely to need a tutor?"

"With him around, everyone," she answered nodding to Lockhart. "He just won't take a hint," she added sounding annoyed, not exactly uncommon of her but still. I looked over to where Lockhart was sitting, unfortunately he noticed and came over and sat next to me on the other side.

"A fresh face on the staff I see," he said brightly. I tried to force a grin but I don't think my lips moved at all. "Are you here to observe? You are welcome to assist in my class if you would like," he offered.

"Thanks, but no," I said quickly. "I'm here to tutor the students,"

"Well I can assure you that you won't have to worry about Defense Against the Dark Arts students, I've got them well covered." He stated proudly.

"I'll keep that in mind," I muttered. "So, Professor, how are the pixies?" I asked brightly.

He paled a bit before he regained himself. "Rumors certainly do fly around here quickly don't they? There was no problem; I was just testing the students on their abilities. Luckily for them I was there and kept my head." Chances are he kept his head hidden under a desk.

For the first month or so the students weren't having much trouble and the only one I saw on a regular basis was Neville (for all classes except Herbology). As October wore on, however, the older students who remembered me from their first or second year (now sixth and seventh years) began coming in, in vast numbers to make sure they were able to pass their defense classes. Occasionally Harry would stop by my office to talk for a little bit after school.

"Keena, I've been wondering about something," he said one day when we were having such a talk. It was about a week before Halloween so I figured it was about his parents.

"What have you been wondering?" I asked, slightly wary of what his question could be.

"Remus mentioned you having a daughter and, well, I was wondering if you had had a husband too," If my eyes went any wider I think they may have fallen out of my head.

"Uh…no, I was never married," I answered, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh," we stayed quiet for a little bit before I could tell he was still curious.

"Remus wasn't the father, Harry," I answered before he could ask; I could tell that had been his next question. "He's more like an older brother, really. I haven't seen my daughter's father in eleven years," I added.

"What happened? To your daughter I mean,"

I sighed and looked Harry straight in the face. "There are creatures called dementors," I began. "They are the most unpleasant things to crawl upon this earth. They feed on the happy emotions of humans, make it feel as though there is no happiness in the world and force you to relive your worst memories. But that isn't the worst that they do. There is something called the Dementor's Kiss, it's when they suck out your soul. They say it's a fate worse than death and is a punishment for only the very worst crimes. When Voldemort had power the dementors ran free, raiding streets and apartments and homes. One of them broke into my apartment and it…it took her soul. She hadn't even been born yet," I rubbed my nose subconsciously and held back a few tears. Harry looked mortified that he had even brought the subject up.

"I'm…I'm really sorry. I shouldn't've asked, it wasn't my business," he stuttered.

"It's alright, you would have found out eventually," I answered.

"Well, I had better go, Quidditch practice," he said, standing up to leave.

"Alright, be safe," I said. He stared at me. "Remus would kill me if I didn't tell you to be safe once in a while," I said, shrugging. He nodded and left.

* * *

"Detention for foul language, Mr. Malfoy," I cried as I shoved my way to where Mrs. Norris hung on the wall. Malfoy looked insulted but said nothing.

"Professor, we didn't do anything, I swear," Hermione began immediately as I walked up and stared at the cat. "We found her like that, and the writing,"

"It's okay, Hermione, I know," I replied.

"What's going on here? What have you--" Filch stopped mid-sentenced as his eyes landed on his cat. "What have you done to her!" he yelled. "You've crossed the line this time! I'll see to it that you're fired and the lot of you is expelled! You've murdered my cat!"

"We have not and she's not dead," I replied calmly.

"You think I'm stupid?" he cried. Despite the atmosphere and situation I could hear some students snigger. "I can see fine and that cat is dead! I'll kill you! I will!"

"Argus," Dumbledore's sharp voice rang out. "What is the meaning of--?" he stopped as soon as he read what was written on the wall. "Prefects, please escort your houses back to their dormitories immediately. You four, come with us," he said gesturing to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Kailey.

Dumbledore took the cat off the wall and we followed him to Lockhart's office (Lockhart, McGonagall and Snape joined the party as well). Lockhart was listing off ways she could have been killed before I interrupted as Dumbledore continued testing her.

"Anyone with eyes could see that she's just petrified," I snapped, growing tired of Filch's sobs combined with the sound of Lockhart's voice. "If she were dead she would not have that glassy-eyed stare, her eyes would be empty,"

"A very forward idea of you, Professor McIntosh, however that cat most certainly--"

"Is petrified," Dumbledore stated, lowering his wand.

"Exactly," Lockhart said. "Yes anyone could see that," I brought my hand to my head and looked over to see Snape rubbing his temples while McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"She will be fine, Argus, I understand that Professor Sprout has some mandrakes, we will have to wait for a little while but she will be revived." Filch's face broke out into a large grin.

"Albus, you don't really think the Chamber could really be open, do you?" McGonagall asked quietly and worriedly.

"Mickey, how many creatures or spells do you know that have the ability to petrify?" I asked in a whisper, raising an eyebrow.

"I think it is best that we all take extra caution until this mystery can be solved," Dumbledore stated for the whole room to hear.

"But how do we know that it wasn't those students?" Filch accused suddenly.

"Yes, headmaster, I find it rather curious that none of them were at dinner," Snape scowled.

"We were at a Death day party," Hermione said quickly. "For Nearly Headless Nick,"

"A likely story, but I didn't think that ghostly food was edible?"

"We were heading back to the Great Hall but Harry said," Hermione stopped quickly and looked at Harry.

"He said he wasn't hungry, sir," Kailey said when Harry failed to say anything.

"Yeah, we were going to go back up to the Common Room," Harry added.

Snape didn't seem satisfied but didn't press the issue.

* * *

A few days later there was a knock on my door. It was Hermione.

"Hermione Granger? In my office?" I said, sitting down so I wouldn't fall over from the shock of it. "What in the world could you need help with?"

"I just have a question and all the copies of Hogwarts A History have been taken out so I was thinking maybe you knew, after all you did know about that book of Hogwarts Alumni last year," she said in a rush. I think she wanted to get out of my office in case it got out that she had come to see the school's tutor. "What's the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Oh, it's a chamber that was said to have been built underneath the school somewhere by Salazar Slytherin before he left. It's said that he was the only one who knew where it was and only his true heir will ever be able to open it and release the monster within,"

"Has it ever been opened before?" she asked.

I hesitated, wondering for a moment if I should tell her the truth or not. "I'm not really sure, but I think it might have been, a very long time ago. I don't think they got the culprit, though,"

"Thanks, Professor," she said brightly before getting up and nearly running out the door.

Before it could close behind her, a troop of first years marched in.

"Hi, Auntie Keena," Alexis said brightly. "I was just wondering if you were going to go to the upcoming Quidditch match,"

"Of course I am! What kind of question was that?" I answered laughing.

"Who are you going to support?" DJ questioned.

"Gryffindor," I said quickly.

"Ha! I told you she would always support Gryffindor!" DJ shouted triumphantly.

"Wait a minute, I thought teachers had to be neutral," Justin accused. "You can't have a favorite. Can you?"

"All the teachers support their favorite," I said. "You really think Snape wouldn't bet on Slytherin to win every game? It's wonderful because I always win the bet," I grinned. "Unfortunately we don't bet money," I added after a moment.

* * *

"Keena, is that bludger following him?" Remus asked alarmed as he realized what was going on.

"I think it might be that one," I said, trying to remember which bludger it was that would follow Harry around. When the bullet like ball continued following him after it collided with his arm I decided that was the one Dobby had jinxed. "Don't worry, though, James ended up with worse injuries than Harry ever will playing Quidditch,"

"Was that supposed to be comforting?" Remus asked, laughing a little.

"Well, yes, but even if he did end up worse off than James it wouldn't matter to him. Both his parents were stubborn and so is he," I replied as Harry and Malfoy raced around the field, chasing the snitch. "Remus, why is it called a Quidditch field?" I asked suddenly before I jumped up and cheered with the rest of the stands—excepting the Slytherin supporters. Harry had caught the snitch and was now trying to avoid the bludger while holding his broken arm to his chest.

Remus and I rushed onto the field to find Harry being crowded around by what seemed like the entire school. It was a good thing he didn't have as much of an ego as James. As we neared Harry we heard someone yelling about bones.

"Well, it could have happened to anyone," Lockhart was defending.

"What could have happened to anyone?" Remus asked as the crowd parted to let us through. "What did you do to his arm?"

"It was a simple mistake…"

"For anyone but a qualified Healer," Kailey accused, glaring openly at Lockhart. _I don't remember ever saying something like that to a teacher…whatever, go me…!_ "He jinxed away all of Harry's bones," she continued, her voice breaking through my thoughts.

"You did what?" Remus yelled.

"Didn't I warn you to stay away from my godson?" I growled advancing on Lockhart. "You had better prepare yourself," I threatened. "Because I swear if I ever catch you near him outside of classes again not even Dumbledore will be able to stop me,"

"If you are such a devoted parent, why doesn't he live with you?" Lockhart accused. My surprise at his knowledge showed on my face. "You think I just look at the pictures and read about what people have to say about me in the Prophet? No, I've read all about you and you're most likely the reason Dumbledore needs me here in the first place. He needs me to protect the students against you lest you repeat what you did to get yourself fired in the first place,"

My fists clenched and if looks could kill Lockhart wouldn't even be a pile of ashes, however I did not raise my wand but turned to Harry and helped him up.

"C'mon, Harry, we'll have Madame Pomfrey sort you out," I said and he nodded.

A path began clearing in front of Harry and I, those who had heard what Lockhart had said were backing away a little bit more than necessary. Remus, Hermione, Ron and Kailey followed in our wake. We walked in silence up to the Hospital Wing as I came up with as many ideas as I could think of on my own on how to most appropriately punish Lockhart without getting myself fired too early in the year.

I opened the door and was nearly knocked over by Madame Pomfrey as she came rushing over, muttering about how dangerous Quidditch was for children. Before she had even asked what was wrong she had transfigured Harry into a hospital gown and set him up in his usual bed. I noted it was the same one James would be put in whenever he was in trouble.

"What's the problem this time, Mr. Potter?" she finally asked.

"It seems that dear old Professor Lockhart attempted to repair a broken arm but managed to remove all of Harry's bones instead," I answered, still angry about the buffoon. _Get him stuck in hair-curlers…? No, it's got to be much worse than that… _

"What do you mean his bones?" she shrieked. "Oh, what trouble this will cause! He should have been taken straight to me, Lockhart's not qualified to tie a shoelace," she began ranting. "I had Mr. Longbottom in here after his first class with the maniac, had to give the poor thing a strong calming drought he was in such shock,"

"You will be able to heal it, right?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, of course, but you'll be stuck in here overnight, Mr. Potter, re-growing bones is a nasty business," she said handing him a glass of potion. He eyed it apprehensively before leaning forward and sniffing it. "Well, go ahead, you think I'd poison you with your godmother standing right there?" she asked.

I could tell she was trying to be funny but the entire room seemed to tense up as if I were a ticking time-bomb. Harry, however, finally decided to take a drink before he spat the stuff out all over his bedcovers.

"Well I never said it would taste good! Now you'll have to down another glass full," she muttered, cleaning the mess with a flick of her wand. "Now, the four of you out of here, Mr. Potter needs his rest. Keena, Remus you two are more than welcome to stay,"

After Harry had finally downed a glass of the skelo-grow Madame Pomfrey returned to her office. Remus and I took up our usual seats on either side of Harry's bed.

"Um…Keena?" he asked, tentatively.

"Remember how I told you I used to teach here?" I asked before he could get the full question out. He nodded. "Well, I was a Defense teacher for a year. It was the end of the year and Snape and I were assigned to watch the fifth years who had just taken their last O.W.L.s to make sure no fighting broke out. A few words between us were exchanged that caused us to start dueling. Violently," I said. "In the end we both ended up unconscious in here for a while. Dumbledore wasn't going to fire either of us but I chose to quit. After that I got bumped down in my station as an Auror. After the Gringotts robbery suspicion was towards me, though I don't understand how they made any sort of connection, and I was put on paid leave. They fired me over the summer for 'taking the law into my own hands' when I stopped Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy from fighting,"

"But none of that sounds like it was your fault," Harry said, sounding confused. "And you were helping someone in that last one,"

"They were just looking for a reason to fire her at that point," Remus said. "Any other witch or wizard would have been thanked; at least most of them would have,"

"Why would you have any connection to the Gringotts robbery?"

"Some of our closest friends in the war were discovered to be traitors," Remus answered carefully. "But that wasn't uncommon—people were doing anything for power or safety. It was difficult to know who you could or couldn't trust."

"Still is sometimes," I muttered, looking away from both of them. "If any good comes out of what Lockhart said it will be that no one will mess with you for the rest of the year," I said brightly.

"Yeah, they'll be too terrified to cross you after that," Harry agreed, smiling.

"Did I really look that mean?" I asked, wincing a little. Hopefully I hadn't scared any students away from getting help if they needed it.

"I never knew you could act so serious," Harry replied.

"Don't get too used to it," Remus said. "She'll only ever act like that when _she _feels that you're being threatened. Course there are those of us who may feel you're in trouble at other times and she may just blow it off saying you'll be fine," he added, shaking his head.

"I'm not that bad," I said, waving a hand. "But if I freaked out over every little thing Harry wouldn't come talk to me as much, would you Harry?"

"Of course I'd still come and talk to you," he said quickly.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," I joked. "Well, get some rest or Pomfrey will boil me alive," I said standing up and Remus and I left.

That night I was patrolling the hallways. I rounded a corner and nearly had a heart-attack at seeing a figure racing towards me but then I realized it was just McGonagall in her pajamas.

"Professor?" I called as she came closer.

"Keena, good, follow me, there has been another attack," she said, gesturing for me to follow.

"How do you know though?" I asked, confused.

"The heads of the houses and the headmaster's quarters all have alarm systems when there is danger. Severus is now checking all of the dungeons, Pomona is covering the grounds and Filius is on the floor above us."

"What about Dumbledore?"

"He summoned me to come to the Hospital Wing,"

"So he's already found the student then?"

"Yes,"

We arrived at the Hospital Wing to find Dumbledore looking over a frozen figure on the ground.

"Colin Creevey," I said. "He came by my office this afternoon to see if I could get him in to see Harry, as if Pomfrey would have allowed it anyway."

Dumbledore and I carried him in and McGonagall called for Pomfrey who came rushing out and directed us to a bed.

"What's happened, Albus?" she asked worriedly, a tone that Pomfrey rarely used.

"I believe he has been petrified," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Perhaps he was able to take a picture of the attacker?" McGonagall asked.

"I doubt it, whatever has the power to petrify so quickly and get away is probably too full of magic for the film to catch it," I said shaking my head.

"It's worth a try," she replied. Dumbledore opened the back of the camera but all that came out was a puff of smoke and the stench of burned plastic.

Dumbledore looked at me questioningly. "Hogwarts is no longer safe then?" he asked.

"Not with the chamber open it isn't," I replied.

"But who could the heir be? Aren't they the only one who can control the legendary monster?" McGonagall asked. "I thought they were caught?"

"Obviously not if the chamber has been reopened. Whoever was expelled last time was innocent," Dumbledore replied and I nodded.

"What should the staff be told?"

"That the chamber has been opened, that Hogwarts is no longer safe,"

"And the students? What are we to tell them?"

"Word will get around quickly enough," I answered. "Especially if anything is discussed around any portraits, you know how much they all like to gossip,"

"What do you think the monster is?" Pomfrey asked quietly.

"What does it matter what it is? The fact is that it can petrify or even kill and that's all we need to worry about for the moment," I replied. The others nodded in agreement and we left Pomfrey in the wing.

"Did you hear anything tonight?" Dumbledore asked as we began walking away from the Hospital Wing.

"Not a sound," I said shaking my head. "The attacks will be quick and quiet; the only witnesses will be the ones who become petrified,"

"How many more students do you think will be petrified?" McGonagall asked, sounding alarmed.

"Maybe half a dozen more," I replied.

"When will the attacks take place and where?" Dumbledore asked.

"Anytime and anywhere, the heir and beast don't exactly have a preference," I said. "The heir only really cares at all if you are muggle-born or half-blood and the beast does as commanded,"

"I don't suppose you'll give us any more information than that?" Dumbledore asked. I didn't answer and he nodded. "Minerva, tell the staff there will be a meeting tomorrow morning before breakfast. We need to figure out a way to keep the students as safe as possible."

**That's the end of this chapter! I'm sorry it took me a little while to get it up. I hope you enjoyed it! Please remember to review, I'd like ideas on what to do to Lockhart! Up next is chapter 28!**

**:-D**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-eight: A Lesson in Dueling

**I do not own Harry Potter. **

**Thanks so much to those of you that reviewed and those of you that are reading this chapter! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! **

I was right about the news spreading about Colin—the entire castle seemed to know by lunch time the next day. More students than ever were coming to my office for extra help with their Defense studies as the weeks went on. I often found myself hostess to fifteen students at a time, though most of them seemed to have also heard about Lockhart's accusations towards my being a threat. I couldn't tell if they came in groups because none of them wanted to come near me alone or because they were afraid that the monster would come for them next. Either way, my office was far too small to hold more than eight or so students comfortably.

"I have a small problem," I announced at the next staff meeting. "I'm afraid I'm in need of a bigger room to help tutor the students,"

"A bigger room? You're office is already larger than most because of your job and you need more room?" Snape asked sounding annoyed that I might receive a bigger office. "How many students need a tutor anyway?"

"With the recent events they all seem to feel that they need extra coaching in the Defense area," I replied. Snape didn't retort, but closed his mouth and gave a slight, understanding nod.

"Perhaps an unused classroom would suffice?" McGonagall suggested, turning to face Dumbledore.

"Perhaps," he agreed, nodding his head.

"Headmaster, I wonder if I were given the opportunity to show the students how to duel and defend themselves then maybe they would be inspired and no longer require extra assistance?" Lockhart interjected immediately. "At least not in Defense," he added.

"A dueling club?" Professor Sprout asked. "We've never really enforced that sort of behavior; rather we've gone against it,"

"Yes, but I'm rather against having anymore petrified students," Professor Vector said.

"But how would a dueling club stop the children from becoming petrified?" asked McGonagall. "Wouldn't it just add weapons to their currently limited arsenal?"

"That would be the point, Mickey, they need those extra chances," I answered. "It sounds like a good idea to me," I said leaning back and crossing my arms. "At least as long as _I_ get to help demonstrate," I added. Dumbledore allowed me a small smile and nodded giving his consent.

"Severus, I would also like you to assist Gilderoy and Keena," Dumbledore stated. Snape looked as if he would have argued but I gave him a pointed look before nodding my head towards Lockhart. He paused and closed his mouth before he smirked and nodded. _Perfect…now even if I don't get to attack Lockhart, Snape will…

* * *

_

The next week signs were put up informing the students about the dueling club. Snape and I stood in a shadowy corner as the students slowly began milling into the Great Hall for the club's first meeting.

"So what has Lockhart done to upset you?" Snape asked casually, watching the students come in.

"You mean you haven't heard?" I asked, tilting my head ever so slightly. "He informed the students of our 'violent' tendencies and he seems to think that he's here to protect the students from us," I could tell Snape was ruffled by the news; apparently the Slytherins didn't talk about much around their head.

"What do you suggest?"

"I was thinking that it wouldn't hurt to maybe prove him right, that we are a threat," I said, smiling. "I know you would like nothing better than to jinx him into oblivion, Severus," I added. He smirked.

"Yes, but then Dumbledore might fire me," he said. "Although we could suggest that any trouble caused happened while we were demonstrating,"

"But then only one of us gets to get him," I whined. "What if we suggested showing the students how to handle a group of people attacking, he's so full of pride I bet you he'd agree to it," I suggested.

"Probably, what house was he in anyway? Certainly not Slytherin,"

"Well, he's no Gryffindor either," I defended.

"I bet he was a Hufflepuff," Snape whispered as Lockhart took to the stage calling for attention.

"I'd like to introduce my assistants, Professor Snape and Professor McIntosh, both of whom have agreed to help me run this little club," Lockhart said grandly, gesturing to Snape and myself as we walked onto the stage. "Well, first I think we shall show you how to duel, Severus, would you like to have a go first?" Lockhart asked.

"Actually, I believe the phrase is ladies first, Gilderoy," Snape said oily.

"Better yet, why don't we show them how to deal with two attackers?" I suggested. "Severus and myself against you," I grinned.

"Yes, after all, it would be unfair for one of us to have the greatest wizard on our team," Snape agreed. Lockhart looked as if he were about to refuse but the whispers that had began when Lockhart had said he was going to duel had grown into cheers.

"Excellent suggestion," he said, grinning widely. "Yes, everybody, pay close attention,"

Coming to the middle of the stage Snape and I bowed to Lockhart. As one, we turned and walked to the other end of the stage.

"Let's make this last," I muttered.

"I was thinking along the same lines," he returned as we reached the opposite end of the stage.

We turned and Lockhart counted off. Letting Lockhart fire the first curse, I put up an invisible shield forcing Lockhart's spell to bounce back at him. He ducked and Snape fired the disarming spell as I fired off _Levicorpus_. As Lockhart hung in the air he let out a girly shriek. Instead of the usually bails of laughter that would have taken place the room was completely silent in shock. I looked over at Snape who snorted, shaking his head. I let Lockhart drop to the ground with a loud _thunk_.

"Some duel," I muttered, a little disappointed, as Lockhart regained himself and began making excuses for his behavior.

Lockhart decided that we would break the students up into pairs and allow them to disarm one another. As if that would ever work, especially since it seemed that no one was paired with a person from their own house.

The moment that Lockhart said 'begin' chaos ensued. It took several loud bangs from both mine and Snape's wands to get everybody to stop, except for Harry and Malfoy. They continued dueling fiercely no matter how many times I let off an explosion with my wand. Snape grew tired of the noise I was making and grabbed my arm.

"They're not going to listen, might as well wait for them to get it out of their systems," he muttered as the boys continued to duke it out.

"_Serpensortia!_" Malfoy shouted. The snake came flying out of his wand and immediately began hissing and spitting. I couldn't help but suppress a small grin.

"Remember him, Sev?" I asked quietly. He ignored me.

"I'll get rid of it," he said instead, moving to get rid of the snake.

"No need, Professor, I can handle it," Lockhart said. He spoke some nonsense words I had never heard before and a bang went off causing the snake to go flying through the air. It landed and began charging towards some of the students. It was about to attack a second-year Hufflepuff when Harry began hissing at it. The entire hall seemed to have frozen as if petrified as Harry and the snake hissed at one another. It began backing down from the student and Harry looked up grinning at him as Snape destroyed the snake.

"Stay away from me!" the student shouted bringing the entire crowd out of the trance. Whispers began spreading through the hall at a rapid pace. Quickly, I grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him out of the hall. As I passed Hermione I muttered to her to do some damage control before the rumors got impossible to handle.

"Keena, what's wrong? What just happened?" Harry asked as soon as we were out of the hall. I didn't stop walking, but led Harry to my office.

"It appears you have a very special gift, Harry," I said. We arrived in my office a minute later and I summoned two cups.

"This must be bad," Harry muttered. I stopped rummaging through my desk for a moment to look at him. "You hate tea," he said in response to my questioning look.

"That's why we're having hot chocolate, but I could get you some tea if you want," I said. "Ha, here it is," I added, pulling out the hot chocolate packets and pouring them into the cups. "Here," I said once I had added the hot water.

"Why did Justin react like that? What gift were you talking about?" Harry asked as soon as I had sat down.

"You're a Parselmouth," I said simply. "It means you can talk to snakes. You can't learn to be one, you just are," I added. "It's very rare; most people don't like to spread the fact if you know what I mean,"

"But—but if I hadn't gotten that snake to leave Justin alone…I mean…it wanted to eat him!" he sputtered out frustrated.

"But the problem is nobody could understand what it was that you were saying. It would be like if someone came up to you and started speaking—oh I dunno, Japanese or something. Point is that you wouldn't understand a word they said, good or bad, right?" he nodded. "The people who are most famous for being a Parselmouth weren't exactly the best people in the world, which is the main reason everyone began freaking out," I added.

"Who were they?" Harry asked.

"Salazar Slytherin is the most famous, that's why the symbol is a snake." I answered.

"Great, now everyone is going to think I'm the heir aren't they?" he groaned.

"Probably, but that doesn't matter, point is you aren't related," I said shrugging. "The Slytherin line was the best known pureblood line of its time. You're mother was a muggle-born, something Slytherin wouldn't have approved of and would have been sure to pass that disapproval down his line,"

"If it was the best known line of its time then wouldn't someone have kept a close watch on it and be able to tell us who the heir is?"

"The heir could be anyone whose third cousin three times removed had a single drop of blood belonging to Slytherin. There are few families that are pureblooded that aren't related now," I answered, shaking my head. "Besides if there were any daughters their names would have been lost in marriage,"

"Oh," he said, returning to his drink. We sat there drinking our hot chocolate before Harry looked up. "I think I'm going crazy," he said bluntly.

"Where did that come from?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone? Not even Remus?" Harry said before answering me.

"I won't tell a soul," I promised.

"Okay, well I've been hearing voices," he said quietly.

"What do they say?" I asked, knowing that he probably wouldn't want to tell me.

"They…it…it's always saying that it wants to kill, that it smells blood,"

"When do you hear this voice?" I persisted.

"Not too often," he replied, shifting in his seat.

"But often enough to make you feel crazy?" I said knowingly. He nodded. "Does anybody else hear the voice?" I knew the answer was 'no' but it hardly mattered. He shook his head and sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to tell Dumbledore? I don't know any remedies for this sort of thing, Harry," I said, looking at him with concern. He shook his head violently. "Okay, but promise me you'll come to me if you hear this voice again, especially if it makes you feel threatened,"

"Thanks, Keena," he said.

"You're my godson, there's no need to thank me. How about I walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?" he nodded and I brought him up.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast I decided to sit next to Dumbledore. He looked over at me before glancing along the table and letting out a soft chuckle. 

"I'm surprised to see Gilderoy is able to walk on two legs," he said in reply to my questioning look.

"Yeah, well lucky for him he screams like a little girl. Neither Severus nor myself could bring ourselves to continue the duel after that," I replied shaking my head. "It was really disappointing,"

"So there was little excitement after that?" he guessed.

"Well, we paired the students up into groups of two so that they could practice disarming spells with one another. It would have been fine had they all been paired with students from their own houses," I said.

"We are all one school, Keena, the houses shouldn't matter," he scolded, his blue eyes twinkling madly.

"I know it shouldn't matter, but tell that to two second years who detest one another," I replied.

"Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, then?" he asked, knowingly. I nodded.

"It got to the point where everyone else had stopped dueling and just watched those two go at one another's throats, not literally," I added at Dumbledore's look.

Before I could continue to tell Dumbledore about Harry's being a Parselmouth, the hall went eerily silent. I looked up to see what had gotten the entire hall's attention only to see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Kailey entering. Harry's head immediately dropped to the ground as they walked towards the Gryffindor table. Hermione and Kailey, I could see, were whispering something to Harry, who was giving tiny nods. Ron glared at some of the students who had edged away from where they were sitting to make room for the four of them. Once they had sat down conversation around the hall began to rise back to its normal buzzing.

"What was that all about?" Dumbledore asked, turning back to face me.

"That was what I was going to tell you next," I said, still watching Harry, whose eyes were still boring into his plate. "Harry, as well as everyone who was there, discovered that he was a Parselmouth last night. It seems that the word has spread around and apparently the blame for Mrs. Norris and Colin being petrified has been given to Harry," I shook my head and looked at my own plate.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Of course! I explained the whole thing about Parselmouths to him; just not that Voldemort was one," I said. "I also told him that he is most definitely not the heir of Slytherin,"

"You do know that there is no way of proving that?" he asked.

"Maybe, but it doesn't hurt," I said shrugging.

* * *

Later that day I was helping a couple of second year Ravenclaws learn how to put up a shield. Their herbology lesson had been canceled and they wanted to learn more about Defense. 

"That one was much better," I said as the wobbly shield faded. The brown-haired Ravenclaw raised an eyebrow. "Look, I know it wasn't perfect, but it was still really--" I paused as shouts came from the hallway. Taking out my own wand I headed to the door. "Stay here," I commanded, though I could hear them following me as I raced down the corridor.

"Out of the way!" McGonagall shouted at the crowd that was up ahead, for she too had heard the disturbance. The crowd parted revealing a petrified Justin as well as Nearly Headless Nick. There were some accusing shouts before McGonagall called for silence. "Everyone, back to your classrooms immediately. Mr. Macmillan, if you would be so kind," she said, handing him a fan and pointing at Nick.

The Ravenclaws I had been helping teetered nervously behind me. "I think we're done for now, keep practicing in your spare time, but don't neglect your other studies," I said, dismissing them from the scene. Peeves began singing as the other teachers looked over Justin. "It's obvious that he's been petrified," I said, standing upright.

"You seem awfully sure," Professor Sinistra said slowly.

"Well, considering that Defense is my specialty and that I used to be an Auror, I would hope I would realize a petrified person from a dead one," I fired back before she could think to continue her accusation. "Why don't you and Filius carry him up to the Hospital?" I suggested. They nodded and carried Justin away.

"Potter, you'll come with us," McGonagall stated.

"But Professor, I swear I didn't do anything! I found them there like that," Harry began defending immediately.

"It's alright, Harry," I said, though I cast McGonagall an unsure look. _Does she really think he has__ anything to do with the chamber? _

We walked silently to Dumbledore's office and McGonagall gave the password.

"Keena, I think it best if Mr. Potter were to speak to the headmaster on his own," she said pointedly.

"Minerva, I'm his godmother," I stated firmly, receiving a look of surprise from her over using her real name. "You have no right in this matter to tell me what I can and cannot do,"

"That will be for Albus to decide," she replied before walking away.

I frowned and turned to Harry, nodding towards the waiting staircase. We headed up and knocked on the door. There was no reply so I just opened the door and led him inside. Harry looked around with wonder and I took a seat.

"Something troubling you?" a voice asked suddenly, causing me to jump out of my seat. "The both of you seem a little out of sorts," the Sorting Hat stated airily and I sat back down. "Having doubts about your house placement, eh Potter? Yes, Slytherin most certainly would have served you well," the hat folded in on itself as it nodded.

Harry glared at the hat. "I would never be a Slytherin," he said, though I could hear the worry in his voice.

The hat ignored him. "And what of you Professor….McIntosh? My, my, your past did not turn out at all as you expected it to did it? You will be most glad when this is all over, won't you? Back into a world where you are certain of its happenings. You should not have grown so accustomed to it, it will betray you,"

I did my best to ignore the hat's warnings, but found it difficult when Harry glanced at me with a quick questioning look. "Hello, Fawkes," I said, trying to get the attention off of me and onto the sickly looking phoenix.

The bird replied with a soft, melancholy hum before making its way slowly onto my lap. I stroked the soft, warm feathers for a moment before the bird fled back to its perch, bursting into flames as soon as he landed. Harry let out a cry in shock.

"What—how?" Harry spluttered.

"Ah, two visitors, I see," we both looked up to see Dumbledore coming down from a spiral staircase that led to a small tower (a few Order meetings had been held up there).

"Professor, your bird, it just—it caught fire and—and…"

"Calm yourself, my dear boy, Fawkes is a phoenix," Harry just stared. "They are terribly beautiful birds; they burst into flame when it is time to die and are reborn from the ashes. Their tears hold the most powerful healing capabilities,"

"Not to mention the music they make," I added. "What did you think happened? I gave it a pet and then cursed it?" I asked laughing a little. Harry shrugged and nodded a little. I stopped laughing. "You didn't actually fall for that crap Lockhart said, did you?" I asked seriously.

"I am sure that Harry has more sense than that," Dumbledore replied. "Now, please explain to me why Professor McGonagall felt it necessary for me to see you immediately, Harry," Dumbledore asked, seating himself behind his desk.

"Because I found Justin Finch-Fletchey and Nearly Headless Nick petrified. She must think I'm the heir—everyone else does," he said, looking at the ground.

"Do you know why everyone seems to think that?" Dumbledore pressed on.

"Because I—I don't know," Harry muttered before shaking his head and looking, if possible, even more towards the ground.

"Are you sure you don't know?" Dumbledore asked, frowning and glancing at me. "There is nothing you wish to tell me?"

Harry hesitated before shaking his head. "No, sir, nothing,"

"Keena, do you have anything to add?" Dumbledore asked, sounding hopeful. Harry looked up at me with a pleading look in his eyes.

"No, sir, I have nothing," I said, quietly.

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed. "Keep safe, Harry," Dumbledore said, dismissing him. "Keena, would you stay for a moment?"

"Go ahead, Harry, I'll see you later," I said when Harry paused at the door. Once he was gone I set a silencing charm on the room. "What would you like, sir?"

"You will inform me of anything regarding Harry?" he asked.

"Anything that I see fit, yes," I said nodding. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"Yes," he said, looking as though he were being plagued by something. "Have you come up with a way to tell Harry of your upcoming (and possibly permanent) absence yet?"

I shook my head.

"You do realize that he seems to have become quite attached, don't you? Whatever you tell him will be quite damaging to his trust in adults," Dumbledore said in a near whisper.

"Yes, I realized that," I muttered. "But he'll still have Remus," I added, trying to down play the guilt I was feeling. "What shall I tell him?"

"Perhaps that you have taken a job abroad that will make you unable to communicate for the foreseeable future," Dumbledore suggested, stroking his long beard. "Then, when you are ready, you may tell him the truth,"

"I don't know if I'll ever be ready," I admitted.

"You forget that in your fifth year as Keena, Harry paid a visit and he seemed to know who you were," Dumbledore stated, turning to look at the baby Fawkes who had just produced a loud squawk. "Regardless of what you may think now, your old friends will accept you no matter what, just as James, Remus and Lily did,"

"As did Sirius and Peter," I added. Dumbledore nodded, though I knew he had left them out on purpose. It made me wonder why he would ever come to trust Sirius or Snape for that matter. _Dumbledore really is a crazy, old loony…perhaps that's why so many people trust him…_

**I think that that is enough for this chapter! (I didn't remeber if Sinistra was a guy or girl so I made it into a her--tell me if I'm wrong please!) Next is 29! I hope you all enjoyed and will review!**

**:-D**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-nine: Filling Events

**I disclaim. Warning: blood content (slightly gruesome depending on your view).**

**Sorry for the wait! Enjoy!**

* * *

Christmas came and went as quickly as ever and suddenly we were in the midst of February. I entered the hall one morning to find the place decked out in pink and red. I looked up at the staff table to see a highly animated Lockhart nearly bouncing up and down in his seat. Unfortunately, he spotted me and gestured to the empty seat next to him. I grimaced and groaned aloud, causing a few heads to turn.

"What's wrong, Professor?" a young Ravenclaw girl asked. "It looks like there's an empty seat next to him, I'm sure he wouldn't mind being your Valentine,"

"That's _why_ she's upset, you twit," the boy sitting next to her said, shaking his head. "Honestly, what kind of Ravenclaw are you that you can't figure that one out?" The two of them began to bicker and I just smiled and shook my head as I made my way to the staff table.

"Keena, so good of you to join us! Here, take a seat," Lockhart said, pulling out the chair for me. Raising an eyebrow, I sat down. He turned to sit down and landed with a thud on the ground. Laughter rang throughout the hallway as I stowed my wand away before anyone could notice.

"You should be more careful, Gilderoy," I said, grinning sweetly.

"Yes, I suppose I just pushed myself back a little too far," he muttered, fixing his hair and adjusting his robes. "Anyway…Keena, I know that you were robbed of your preferred valentine, so I thought I would make you an offer of having me as yours for a day," Lockhart's toothy smile didn't even falter despite the fact that I was giving him the angriest look I could possibly muster.

"You had better be careful, Lockhart, McIntosh believes that he was innocent," Snape, who was sitting on Lockhart's other side, said smirking.

Lockhart turned to face Snape and I opened my mouth to say something before my eyes registered what I was seeing. "Why, Severus, I had no idea you were so festive for this holiday," Lockhart said happily. Lockhart's voice carried throughout the hall and suddenly there was a hush. Had I been sitting closer to the headmaster I may have let a smile through, however Dumbledore was on the other side of the table nearly and I felt extremely vulnerable as Snape picked up his spoon to inspect his reflection.

Someone had transfigured Snape's hair to be pink and his robes were red patterned with white hearts. Slowly, he set down his spoon before standing up. The entire hall seemed to hold its breath and I gripped my wand tightly under the table, afraid that he would jump to conclusions. He walked around Lockhart and pulled out my chair, roughly.

"Up, now," I obeyed without a second thought; I had never seen him look so angry. _Damn height difference…_ That was all I could think as he stood glaring down at me. "Well, Headmaster, may we show the students a proper duel?" he said it in a near whisper but the entire hall could definitely hear him.

Dumbledore had stood up and walked over to us. "Do you really feel that is necessary?"

"Professor, I think it's between his dueling me and giving out unnecessary detentions," I muttered, quietly, trying not to back down from Snape's glare.

Dumbledore sighed tiredly before turning to the students. "If everyone would not mind standing up," there was a scraping of chairs as the students stood up without a sound. With a wave of his wand, there was a platform in the center of the room, this one twice as wide as the one that had been used in the dueling club. He gestured for Snape and I to follow him and he led us to the center of the stage. "Please make it a clean one," he said, looking over his glasses at the both of us.

He exited the stage and put up a giant, shimmering, glass shield to keep us and our spells inside. He told the students to pay close attention and warned them that if any of them used any of the spells or curses that we might use on another student it would be an automatic detention.

Snape and I bowed to one another and walked to the opposite ends of the platform. Dumbledore let off a blast from his wand and Snape fired the first spell, a jet of orange light, racing towards me. I blocked it with a silver shield, while sending a blue blast towards him. He ducked and the spell was absorbed into the wall. He fired a red beam that blasted my shield to pieces and caused me to fly high into the air and slam into the wall. I regained myself before I hit 

the ground as my training had taught and I landed on one knee while firing a yellow jet towards a surprised Snape.

This time he crashed into the wall and landed on his back. I took my opportunity and fired a _stupefy_ at him but he repelled it with a one of his own. The two collided and ricocheted off of the walls and platform before flying towards the ceiling. Suddenly I was hit with a scorching spell—I had not seen him get up. I slammed into the wall and grabbed my side, putting up a stronger shield as he tried to fire another curse at me. The curse rebounded off my shield and hit him square in the chest, causing him to crumple to the ground. I sent another stunner at him but he put up his own shield just in time and my curse missed.

He fired another orange light and I cast a purple beam. The two hit one another dead on and combined to make a bright green explosion. There were screams and I expected to hit the glass wall again but was surprised when I felt myself collide with heavy stone before falling to the ground. I heard and felt an unpleasant snap followed by intense pain in my left arm. Before I could even consider crying out there was a loud crumbling noise. Looking up, I could see part of the wall the explosion had hit was beginning to crumble. I scrambled out of the way just as a large stone fell to the ground, but it caught my foot.

Biting my lip, I reached for my wand, which had fallen a few inches away from me; I levitated the stone off of me and sent it over a few feet. I felt my eyes watering and I couldn't bring myself to look at my foot. Using my right arm, I managed to get myself off of the ground and I leaned against a piece of undamaged wall, keeping my injured foot off the ground. In the middle of the hall all of the students and the remaining staff were enclosed in a large golden orb that Dumbledore was keeping up. After a few more moments, Dumbledore set the shield down 

and ordered the students to exit the hall and head for their first class. The teachers followed the students and the hall quickly emptied without a backward glance. As soon as the doors closed, I clenched my eyes shut and slid down the wall, clutching my arm and trying to keep my breathing under control.

Dumbledore rushed over followed by Snape, who had a long cut on his arm and a bloody nose.

"Severus, go and tell Poppy to prepare a bed for Keena," Dumbledore ordered. Snape nodded and ran out of the hall, leaving the doors open behind him. "Come, now, Keena, up you get," Dumbledore lifted me up and half carried me up to the Hospital Wing. I still hadn't looked at my foot, but it was throbbing painfully and my shoe felt drenched.

"For heaven's sake, will you two ever get along?" Madame Pomfrey cried when Dumbledore and I arrived in the wing. I gritted my teeth and didn't reply, nor did Snape. I fell onto the bed and felt Pomfrey remove my shoe. I gasped out in pain and closed my eyes tightly. "Oh my," Pomfrey said quietly. I couldn't stand it any longer and I looked at my foot and felt my eyes widen. Several bones were sticking out and there was blood everywhere. After all the things I had seen throughout my life this was just too much and I fainted promptly.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of whispering and I opened my eyes to see Remus talking to Pomfrey. I could tell they were arguing about something but I couldn't tell what. I sat up and gave a cough to signify that I was awake. They stopped talking abruptly and came over to the bed. I cut Pomfrey off before she could get two words in.

"I'm not spending the night," I said firmly.

"You never did waste your time in getting to the point," Pomfrey sighed, shaking her head. "However, you are currently of age and I cannot keep you here against your wishes. However, having your bones reconstructed will not be pleasant and I advise you to stay here until they are," she added.

"Reconstructed?" I winced.

"Yes, your right foot was completely demolished and you're very lucky that Lockhart didn't get to you before I did, I have no faith whatsoever in his healing capabilities," she said matter-of-factly.

"So I was out of it long enough that you had to come out here, huh?" I asked Remus.

"Yes," he said nodding. "They couldn't tell if you had fainted from the fall or from seeing your foot," he added, giving me a questioning look.

"The foot, definitely, I've never seen something like that," I said, shuddering. "What is it that you two were arguing over anyway?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

"Whether or not there could be a way to make the mandrake potion any faster," Remus replied, shrugging. "You could try to mature the mandrakes faster by giving them an aging potion then you wouldn't have to wait so long for them to grow,"

I shook my head. "You can't do that; it could have a negative effect on the mandrake potion."

"You never know unless you try," he said folding his arms, grumpily. I had a feeling Pomfrey had said the same thing.

"That may be but you can't test a new potion on students." Pomfrey stated.

"What about Nearly Headless Nick?" Remus inquired.

"I still don't know how I'm going to administer the proper potion into him," she sighed. "I certainly will not risk keeping him in this state if I cannot monitor him to begin with," she ended in a huff. "Oh and there's a dwarf that's been trying to get in here all day, may I let him in?" she said before turning away.

"No," I said firmly. "Definitely not,"

"Good, because I think the whole idea is ridiculous," she stated. "Oh, and Severus would like an apology for embarrassing him in front of the entire school,"

"For once, Poppy, I didn't do anything and I don't have a clue who did," I said, raising my hands in defeat.

"Really? Hm…I shall have to inform the headmaster, then," she said before going into her office. "Do you think it was another teacher?"

"No teacher is that stupid, and Lockhart couldn't pull it off," I answered, shaking my head. "No, it was definitely a student,"

"I think I might have an idea as to whom, but I wouldn't risk their safety," Remus said suddenly.

"The twins?" I asked needlessly. Remus nodded and Pomfrey gave an annoyed huff.

* * *

There was a knock at my door a few days later before two redheads squeezed their heads through a crack in the door. I nodded for them to come in and they closed the door behind them.

"You wished to see us Professor?" George asked, while Fred nodded.

"Yes," I answered, slightly unnerved at how polite they were acting. "But before I continue, why do you both seem so sullen?"

"You were hurt," Fred answered.

"And it was because of our prank," George added.

"We didn't think it would lead to a duel," Fred explained.

"And we're both really sorry, Professor," George finished.

"So you were the two to pull that off?" they nodded.

"And we're willing to serve detentions," Fred replied.

"Every day," George clarified.

"Unless there's a Quidditch game," Fred added.

"Yeah, we're more afraid of Oliver than we are of you," George explained.

"No offense of course," they finished in unison.

"Well okay then," I said, scratching my head. "Glad we've got that all cleared up. You can go now," I waved my hand towards the door.

"Wait, no detentions?"

I looked up, confused. "Do you know how many times Snape has deserved to kick my ass but he couldn't? I'm not mad at all, just be more careful with your victims next time," They both grinned before they dashed out the door, no doubt that more ideas were forming in their heads at that moment.

**Sorry it took so long to get this one out! Even if it is sort of just a filler chapter…I'll try to be more consistent with my updating, I swear! Thanks for reading! Next is chapter 30!**

**:-D**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty: A Change of Pace

**I disclaim.**

**I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update! I have a real excuse this time though—my computer crashed again! I was half done with this chapter then POOF! No more. Hopefully this one suffices!**

It was now late April. There hadn't been an attack for a long while, but no one seemed certain as to how long that would last. It was as if we were all cowering under a false sense of security. Dumbledore was constantly trying to get me to give him more information but I tended to ignore him more often than not.

Remus and I were on our way to the Quidditch pitch for the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor match when I felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over my head. I shivered violently and had to stop walking.

"Keena? What is it?" Remus asked, frowning.

"I don't know, it just got really cold all of a…" _just like when Harry came back in time…_

Without a word I turned on my heel and raced back to the castle, Remus shouting after me to slow down and explain. I didn't even pause for a breath until I reached the library. I looked around before turning around a corner. Lying on the ground was Kailey, Hermione and a Ravenclaw student. I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"C'mon, we should get them to the Hospital Wing," Remus said, conjuring up three gurneys.

We arrived at the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey came rushing over to us.

"How can there already be a problem the match hasn't started," she was saying before she spotted the three girls. "When will this end?" she asked, while directing the three of them into beds and sending a silver patronus off from her wand. Moments later Dumbledore's patronus came back to us, instructing Remus and I to go down to the pitch and have McGonagall send all the students back to their dormitories.

Minutes later the match was cancelled and the stands began emptying, the students grumbling about missing the match. McGonagall helped Remus and I find Harry and Ron. After we promised to bring them strait to Gryffindor Tower, we led Harry and Ron to the Hospital Wing.

"Wait," Harry said as we arrived at the door. "What's going on? Who is it?" Ron nodded worriedly and I looked over at Remus, who sighed.

"We found Hermione and Kailey near the library along with another girl. They've been petrified," Remus answered. Both boys paled visibly.

"Do you want to see them now or wait until later?" I asked cautiously.

"Let's just go now," Ron answered.

Nodding, we led the boys in and brought them over to where the girls were lying motionless on their beds. Ron gripped the footboard of Hermione's bed tightly while Harry just sat down in a chair between the two looking at one for a moment then the other. After a few minutes of silence, we told the boys it was time to get back to the common room. They nodded numbly and with one last look, we left the Hospital Wing.

"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked as we neared the Fat Lady.

"Things are going to become much more secure around here. You'll most likely end up being escorted everywhere and end up hanging out in the common room most nights after classes." I answered almost mechanically. "At least those are the most recent ideas from the staff meetings," I added quickly.

"What if this doesn't stop?" Ron asked. "Will we all be sent home?" Harry's head snapped up and he looked at Remus and I with pleading eyes.

"I won't go back to the Dursley's, will I?" he had stopped walking in his tracks and made it obvious that he had no intention of moving unless we answered. "Not permanently at least?"

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that," Remus answered truthfully.

"I doubt it will come even close. Hogwarts has seen more than just something like this and survived," I added. Harry seemed unsure. "I promise that if Hogwarts does close, we won't let the Dursley's keep you to themselves," I assured him.

* * *

That night I was sitting at my desk looking over some of Neville Longbottom's most recent potions grades and was trying to figure out how I could best approach him about his problem (McGonagall had mentioned being worried about how his self-esteem could affect his work) when my the fireplace in my office turned green. Dumbledore's head had appeared and he looked unusually tired and, frankly, miffed about something.

"Sorry to interrupt, Keena, but it seems that I require your assistance, if you don't mind flooing up," he stated, it wasn't a question.

"I'll be right up, sir," I said, putting down the papers and grabbing a small handful of the silvery powder.

I arrived in Dumbledore's office to find myself face-to-face with not only Dumbledore, but the minister, Fudge as well as two men with Auror badges pinned to their cloaks. I wasn't exactly surprised about his presence; I was more concerned with the fact that I had been summoned and that there were two Aurors with him.

"Is there a problem, sir?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That is exactly what I would like to know," Dumbledore stated softly, but firmly, turning his own gaze to Fudge.

"If you would not mind, professor, I would also like to go and see Rubeus Hagrid," Fudge answered swiftly, apparently feeling quite relaxed with his guards there to watch out for him.

Frowning, Dumbledore nodded and he and I began leading the way to Hagrid's cabin. The other three walked a little ways behind us and were talking quietly so I took the advantage to talk to Dumbledore.

"Sir, they're here to arrest Hagrid," I stated as if I were remarking how nice the weather was. Dumbledore didn't even straighten up, but keep his gaze forward. "Any ideas what that would have to do with me?" I continued.

"I'm afraid they may have the same fate in mind for you." Something inside of me froze for a moment and I stumbled a bit, but kept walking. "I do not believe that Fudge expects you to go without a fight, that may be why he brought guards," he continued.

"Then he knows me too well," I said, barely keeping myself from growling. "I will not go to Azkaban, Dumbledore," I stated firmly. We were getting closer to Hagrid's cabin now. "They don't have any reason whatsoever to suspect me," I added. "I've always worked for the light,"

"Fudge is not thinking rationally," Dumbledore agreed. "But you won't be able to get away from here unless you act fast. You need to find an excuse to wait outside or something along those lines."

"Who will explain to Harry?"

"If you write to Remus, he can send the letter on to Harry," Dumbledore suggested quietly as we reached Hagrid's front door. There was some rustling inside as Dumbledore knocked before Hagrid opened the front door.

"Headmaster, Keena, what brings you here?" Hagrid asked, slightly out of breath.

"Good evening Hagrid," Dumbledore said, stepping inside along with the rest of us. Before the minister could even open his mouth, I claimed Hagrid's attention.

"Could I use your bathroom, Hagrid?" I asked, gesturing at his back door. If he was confused about my gesture, he hid it well. He simply nodded and looked at Dumbledore.

"Could I offer any of yeh some tea?" he asked, blocking anybody's view as I made my way out the back door. As soon as I closed the door I performed a quick charm to make it appear as though there really was a small bathroom there, but left it with an open window so that Hagrid wouldn't get into trouble. I then transformed into my animagus form and hid just below the window. I wanted to hear what they had to say.

"I'm afraid not, we're here on some rather negative business," Fudge answered. "It has become clear that these attacks are not ceasing. The ministry must act, now,"

"Wha' d'yah mean by tha'?" Hagrid asked, nervously.

"We're going to have to take you as well as Miss McIntosh," one of the Aurors stated bluntly. "As soon as she is back in here, we are leaving."

I could tell Dumbledore was getting ready to counter the argument when there was a knock at the door. I listened as the door swung open and a familiarly oily voice began speaking quietly. Malfoy Sr. was talking so quietly that I couldn't even hear what he was saying, but I didn't need to. Without waiting to hear anymore I fled into the forest. Not a moment later I heard a yell from somewhere far behind me as well as several loud bangs. I only ran faster, heading straight for Lily and James' house.

I didn't dare change back out in the open so I scratched at the door, waiting for someone to come and open it. I heard movement behind the door and doubled my efforts. Finally the door was pulled open cautiously and I slipped in before lying down on my side, panting. James shut the door and yelled for Lily before coming over to me.

"Keena, what happened?" he asked, obviously noting how out of breath I was. Sighing, I stood up and transfigured back into a human.

"I've just become one of the ministry's most wanted." I stated, seriously.

"You've become what?" Lily asked as she came into the room.

"Fudge came to Hogwarts tonight with two Aurors with the intention of arresting myself and Hagrid for the attacks on the muggle-borns up at the school. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not spend any time with the Azkaban guards if I can help it,"

"I don't understand, why you and Hagrid?" Lily asked, confused.

"Hagrid was expelled in his third year," James answered before I could. "I'm guessing it had something to do with the first time the chamber was open?"

"Yeah, but he was framed. I've got no idea why they picked me to go with him though,"

"I'd be willing to bet it's the same reason that you got fired from your previous position," James said, ruffling his hair, not that it needed it.

"Well, whatever the reason is, would it be alright if I stayed here with you two? Dumbledore doesn't need to know where I am. Actually, I don't even know where he himself is going to be," I added as an afterthought. I looked up to see a shocked looking Lily and a confused James. "The school governors think he's losing it," I said in the smallest voice I could as if it would soften whatever reaction was in store. It didn't.

"Are they crazy?" Lily yelled. "What are they thinking? Don't they know that he's probably the only reason the entire school isn't in hospital beds in St. Mungo's?"

"It's Lucius Malfoy, what did you expect. And don't say I didn't tell you he had connections with the ministry, because I know I did. You sent a howler." I said before she could continue.

She shook her head and sat down on a chair in front of the fire. James and I followed her in suit and sat down. The three of us just stared into the fire for a long time. All of us wondering about something different no doubt.

Suddenly we heard a yell from outside. My head snapped up and Lily and I shared a look while James stood and went to a window. The yells grew louder as whoever it was got closer. Lily and I got up and joined James at the window.

"Are those…giant spiders?" James asked, squinting. My eyes grew wide and I smacked myself on the forehead.

"Stay here," I said and without waiting for a reply, I ran out the door, wand out.

I jumped down the steps and yelled out to the boys, while blasting away as many spiders as I could. They began running towards me, Harry sending spells over his shoulder occasionally, Ron just running to keep up, his own wand being useless. The closer they came, the more powerful I allowed my spells to become as I became more certain that I wouldn't hit the boys. Finally they were close enough that I was able to send a final blast, scaring off the few spiders that had continued to follow. They fled back into the depths of the forest and Harry and Ron sat down, catching their breath.

"What the bloody hell were you two thinking?" I asked, annoyed. "I thought we had already established that the Forbidden Forest was just that, _forbidden_. Not only that, but you're out here, which means you're not in bed." I was given two guilty looks, nothing more.

"Where are you going to go?" Harry asked finally.

"You were under your dad's cloak, weren't you?" I asked needlessly. He nodded, but continued to look at me worriedly. "Don't you worry about me, I'll figure something out."

"They kicked Dumbledore out too," Ron stated. "Who is supposed to keep everyone safe now? Lockhart?"

"There's still Mickey and the others,"

"Yeah because Snape cares so much," Harry said, sarcastically. "He'd sooner grieve over anything happening to a student than he would ask you to marry him,"

"Harry, that's so wrong, it's not even funny," I said, trying to ignore the window of the house that only I could see, where James was laughing as Lily punched him in the side. "Do you guys need a guide to get out of here or do you think you can make it?" I asked.

Before either could answer there was a loud rumbling sound. We all jumped and I held my wand up high as suddenly the forest was illuminated. It was the Weasley's car. The two front doors swung open and the car gave off another quick rumble as though telling the boys to get in.

"Well, here's your guide then," I said. "Look, both of you, promise me that you'll be careful? Write to Remus if you need anything," I added the last bit mostly to Harry, but Ron would be welcome as well. "Promise?"

"Only if you promise to keep yourself safe," Harry countered. "You're probably in more danger than we are,"

"I promise," I answered. "Now go, go straight to bed and follow the rules. As many as you can at least," They nodded and Ron turned towards the car but Harry surprised me. He hesitated for a moment before flinging his arms around me, giving me a tight hug. He was still a bit shorter than I was, so I held just behind his head.

"I grew up thinking that nobody would ever care for me, not like a parent would anyway. I don't want to lose you or Remus," he muttered.

I just hugged him tighter as small tears began forming in my eyes. I looked up at the hidden house. James and Lily were still in the window, no longer laughing. Lily's face was red and I could just make out tear streaks, while James had gone very pale in the weak firelight. They were so close to each other. All I had to do was whisper their location to him and they could be a family, a real family.

Before I could move to do that, Harry released me and went back to the car. He got in and he and Ron drove away out of the forest. I gazed in the spot where the tail-lights of the car disappeared for a little while before turning around and heading back in the house with Lily and James.

"What did he say to you?" Lily nearly begged as soon as I came back in the house. Her face was tearstained and she looked as though she were beating herself up for not running out the door when she had the chance.

"Made me promise to be safe. Told me…he said he doesn't want to lose me or Remus…" I let my voice trail off and we stood in silence for another minute. "So, how far are you two along with the Horcruxes?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood somehow.

It worked. Lily and James shared a smile before James gestured for me to follow him. He led me to a small back room that hadn't been there the last time I had visited (although that had been years ago). It turned out to be more of a walk-in closet than anything. On the shelves was a couple of what most people would deem as strange collector's items. A ring with an insignia of an 'S' and a snake were sitting side by side with a cup that had the symbol of the Hufflepuff house encrusted on it. On the shelf above this were several books and maps that held red crosses on them showing where they had already looked or had ruled out. One of the marked off places was Gringotts.

"Why would he keep anything in Gringotts?" I asked, slightly baffled at the idea of Voldemort walking up to a counter to ask to make a deposit.

"I think the proper question is why he_ did_," James corrected. "And probably because it's a piece of his soul and no one would really want something like that to be destroyed,"

"So how do you guys plan on doing it then?" I asked. "I mean, it's not as though it's been done before, is it?"

"Whatever we use to destroy it will have to be extremely powerful or deadly, or even both," Lily answered. "The only problem is we don't want to create an explosion because then the piece of soul would just look for a new home," I nodded.

"So it has to be something along the lines of a stab wound?" I guessed. They both nodded. "So…two down, five to go?" they nodded again. "Any ideas about where the rest of these wonderful creations could be?"

"Well, we already tried looking at old records from other libraries to see what we could find out about Voldemort's life growing up. The problem is that we don't want to risk going into Hogwarts," James answered. "Do you have any ideas?"

"None that come to mind immediately," I sighed. "I'll have to catch myself up when I am back in my own time again. Until then, I can't really refresh my memory, y'know?"

They nodded in agreement.

"How far along are you in the whole werewolf thing then? Or have you been too focused on the Horcruxes?" I asked, turning to exit the small room.

"We're doing pretty well with that, actually," James answered. Lily snorted and rolled her eyes behind him. "Okay, Lily is doing pretty well, but I'm the one that goes into the forest to find the ingredients," he rephrased.

"I'm going to upgrade the Wolfsbane potion before I try to make the change permanent," she explained. "The problem is that I don't have enough access to certain plants or animals at the right time of day. That's the main issue,"

"I could try and get some stuff for you," I offered.

"Keena, you're wanted, remember?"

"Well, in Britain, yes, but the rest of the world could probably care less," I defended. "Not to mention the fact that the monster is bound to Hogwarts so even if I did have any control, it wouldn't matter so far away from the castle,"

"So you're saying you have enough influence to get me fresh dragon blood?" Lily asked. "I've researched it and I think that Dumbledore may have missed a thirteenth use," she added to the looks on both mine and James' faces.

"Access to dragons?" I said, thinking aloud. Then it hit me and I began to grin mischievously. "I think I know someone who could help with that,"

**That's the end of the 30****th**** chapter! Up next is 31! Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned, but we are nearing the end of this story. I will post the title of the next one as soon as I've thought of one…Hopefully this will only last two or three (maybe four) more chapters. Hope you enjoyed and will review! **

**:-D **


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One: Snakes and Dragons

**Anything you recognize isn't mine and is probably (not deninately) from Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets**

**Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed and to the readers! Hope you enjoy this next chapter! (Oh and I still haven't thought of a name for the next segment of this series, but I'll let you all know ASAP, ok? Good.) Enjoy!**

It was fairly easy for James and I to make our way out of the Forbidden Forest in our animagus forms. Lily was still in the process of acquiring the needed ingredients for the final potion to become an animagus, but until she was one, James preferred her to avoid leaving the forest unless she really needed to. She had complained about not being able to come and see the dragons but at the reminder of what we were going to be seeing James had put his foot down.

"I can't believe she expected me to let her come to see dragons," James muttered as we made our way out of the forest. "Doesn't she realize how dangerous it is?"

"It's not like we're going up close to the dragons, you just don't want her to get caught," I teased. "The worst that could happen to us is that they catch a wolf and a stag hanging out together without one trying to kill the other for dinner. Lily, however, could be recognized and then what? You're caught a couple years early," I shrugged off James' worry.

"Well it's not just that, it's the fact that we've got pieces of Voldemort's soul in a closet and we're looking for ways to cure lycanthropy," James added. "Whoever said pranking would do me no good clearly didn't realize just how far sneaking around can get you," I nodded as we reached the edge of the forest.

James transformed back into his human self and put a glamour charm on. His hair was shortened considerably and he turned it blonde. He also made himself a tad shorter and pulled out a case containing contacts and put his glasses into his pocket. "There, what do you think?" he asked, spinning around. "I am now Johnny Patterson," he stated proudly.

"Looks fine to me," I answered, having transformed back myself.

"Well are you going to change your appearance or what?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I'm already under a disguise, remember? I can't do two at once. Besides, no one is looking for me in Romania,"

"As far as you know," James answered. "You might have a picture plastered on the Daily Prophet by now,"

"Prongs, when did you become so optimistic?" I asked sarcastically. He just shrugged and gave a goofy grin. "Let's just take a portkey to Romania; no one will suspect a thing."

"Where in Romania though?" he asked.

"The dragon reserve, dimwit,"

"That's all well and good but do you know where it is?"

"If you're taking a portkey to get to a specific person you don't need to know the exact location," I answered.

"I know that! I didn't know we were going to a certain person," he defended. "Who do you know that works with dragons?"

"Charlie Weasley," I answered.

"Molly and Arthur's second? No way, his mother would kill him," James asked in disbelief, though if his grin was anything to go by it meant that he was impressed. I just nodded. "Alright, then make the portkey before we get caught,"

I nodded and conjured up a small sneaker. "Grab onto it now, I've got to make it instant so that we don't get caught," he nodded and put his finger onto the sneaker. I muttered the incantation and said "Charlie Weasley, Romania," and we were lifted off the ground. We were spun around for about two full minutes before we landed on the ground.

I destroyed the sneaker before looking around. We had landed near a small brown building not more than two stories high, though it was long. Above two large doors were yellow painted letters spelling out 'Zmeesc Reservă' which most likely translated to 'Dragon Reserve'. Just behind the building was a large, magical wall that stood so high that I couldn't see the top of it.

"Shall we?" James asked, bowing towards the door.

We went up to the door and entered the building. Thankfully there was a sign that read 'visitors' in English and we followed the arrows to a desk. James rang the bell and we waited for a moment before a brunette witch came in through a door behind the desk.

"Salutare," she said brightly.

"Um…hi, we're looking for Charlie Weasley," I answered, hoping what she had said had been some form of 'hello'.

"Oh, sorry, are you friends of his?" she asked, her voice not holding much of an accent.

"Yes," James replied. "But we're here as a bit of a surprise," he added, winking to her. She blushed and I rolled my eyes. Even when he didn't look like himself he still acted the part. "Could you just ask him to meet us out front?"

She nodded and we headed back out the door. Charlie came out a few moments later. He was as freckly as ever and he had a number of fresh looking burns covering his arms.

"Hey, Charlie," I smiled as he came over to us. "How are you?"

"I'm good, though I heard you're not doing so hot," he answered. "What are you doing here? Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"

"You heard about that?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah, everybody's heard about it, you're in the Prophet. Don't worry though, you've got the Weasleys on your side," he promised. "Ron sent a letter to me and Bill telling us that if we saw you to offer you up a place to stay."

"Thanks, Charlie, and could you thank Ron for me as well?" he nodded. "But I'm not here to ask for a place to stay, although I'm still here for a favor. This is Jam—Johnny Patterson. He works with potions and he's doing some research on the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Cool," Charlie said, immediately interested. "Let me guess, you want to use dragon blood and see if Dumbledore missed something?"

"What was your potions NEWT?" I asked after I had lifted my jaw off the ground.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, we would prefer to use a dragon that we could find in most countries, just to make sure it's versatile." James cut in.

"Well, seeing as it's obviously for a good cause I think I could get you something," Charlie answered. "Oh, and it was an 'O' in my Care of Magical Creatures class. I only got 'EE' in my potions,"

"Still," I muttered, shrugging. Charlie just waved his hand modestly, though I caught the small smirk that his face held.

"C'mon, I'll take you to our blood stores; you wouldn't believe how many people come by to get their hands on this stuff. We caught some bloke trying to get the blood himself directly out of the dragon the other day, stupid git," he added, shaking his head. "We had to transport him to St. Mungo's, well half of him; we're still looking for the other half."

"What do you mean you're all still looking?"

"He splinched himself when he realized that the dragon was awake and ready to spit fire at him," Charlie explained.

"What an idiot," James agreed, shaking his head. "What kind of dragon?"

"Norwegian Ridgeback," Charlie replied. _No freaking way… _I thought. My disbelief must have shown on my face. "Yeah, I know pretty crazy of him huh?"

"Oh, yeah," I agreed. "Wouldn't have happened to have been a dragon by the name of Norbert, would it?"

Charlie just stared, stopping dead in his tracks. "How did you know about that?"

"Harry told me," I answered shrugging. "Had to explain his reasoning for being out of the tower and getting a detention for it,"

"He trusts you that much?" Charlie asked; beginning to pick up the pace again. "I don't know if I'd ever tell my mum if I did something like that. She would probably skin me alive,"

"Well, I'm not his mum, am I?" I retorted. "Although I think she was tempted to come back from the grave to strangle me," I added in a whisper and James smiled and nodded in agreement.

We arrived at another building, this one much like the first only it had (in several languages) a sign that read 'Employees ONLY' in bright red. Charlie opened the door and gestured for us to come inside. He led us into a freezer like room in which the walls had been charmed so that the room never melted.

"I'll give you a couple of samples just so you have some range while testing," Charlie told James, who nodded eagerly. We ended up taking seven bottle of blood, each ranging in different shades of deep maroon to rosebud red. "Be sure to let me know if anything works," Charlie said as we exited the store room.

"Oh, we most definitely will," James assured him. "If one of these does produce a cure, your name is going to be added to the list of those who created the potion," he promised.

"It's nothing really," Charlie answered, shaking his head. "Do you need a portkey to get—erm…where is it you're going to go?" his curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.

"I'm just moving around a lot," I answered, shrugging. Well it wasn't as if it wasn't partially true, I wasn't staying in the forest too much at a time, and we would be looking for the final ingredients for Lily's animagus potion over the next few days. "But you will write to Ron for me and tell both him and Harry that I say 'Hello'?"

"Sure, and the offer to stay with either me or Bill is still open," he added.

I smiled. "Thanks, Charlie," I conjured another small shoe when I noticed James checking his watch pointedly. "We've got to go,"

"And I will write to you if something turns up," James added.

"Write if you want to try different samples as well," Charlie encouraged. "I'll be hearing from you soon hopefully," he added.

"Goodbye," James and I said and Charlie waved as he walked away. Once he was out of earshot, James turned to me. "Instant portkey again?" I nodded and he put his finger on the shoe as I said the incantation.

We arrived back at their cabin minutes later and knocked on the door before entering. Lily was sitting in the living room pouring over some thick texts and muttering to herself. She didn't even notice when James began poking her on the head. He looked at me and rolled his eyes before taking the bag that held the dragon blood and plopping it (somewhat gently) onto Lily's book. It was then that she finally looked up. Some things just never change.

"We only needed one vile," she said, raising an eyebrow as she peered into the bag.

"Love you too," James replied, flopping down onto the couch across from her and lifting the glamour charm. "Charlie Weasley insisted on giving us as much as we needed. He also said we could come back for more if we wanted,"

"Really? That's wonderful!" Lily exclaimed, excitedly. "Did he know that you were wanted, Keena?" she asked as she began examining the bottles with curiosity.

"Yeah, but he said that he and the family didn't think I was being rightly accused. He offered me a place to stay and said that Bill was an option as well," I answered. "I told him I was fine, though,"

"That's good that you've got people you can trust," Lily agreed, nodding. "And people who trust you back equally." She added as an afterthought and I immediately felt a guilt trip coming on. "I'm going to go and put these someplace safe," she said, standing up and heading out of the room.

"Prongs? Can I ask you something?" I asked while Lily was out of the room.

"Sure," he said, sitting up a little straighter. "What's on your mind?"

"Dumbledore said that I have to come up with a story by the end of the term," I began.

"A story about what?"

"About why I…well, Keena, can't see Harry anymore," I answered, frowning and facing the ground. "I mean, I knew I would have to do that eventually, but…I dunno," I paused searching for the right words to say. "I guess I just don't want to make him feel as though I've just up and left, you know?"

James gave me a sad smile in response. "I know exactly," he answered. "But you'll see him again, that's a definite,"

"But it won't be the same," I argued. "He won't be coming to me for the same sort of advice; actually, I don't think he'll want to talk to me for advice, not if I'm Kailey again,"

"Well, he certainly won't go asking you for dating tips," James agreed. "That'd just be weird," he shivered for effect and I laughed. "But, no matter what your age, you'll always be there for him, that's why I wanted you to be his godmother. It wasn't so that you could take care of him in our place, we knew you couldn't do that, it was so that he always had someone to go to, someone to trust,"

"I'm afraid to tell him the truth," I muttered finally. "I'm afraid he'll get mad at me or something. And he has every right to! I mean, I got to grow up with you and Lily and the others. I went through Hogwarts without a crazy dark wizard chasing me up and down the castle every year. And, worst of all, I came back to my time and didn't change a thing for him,"

"How do you know that? Lily and I may well have been destined to die before you came into the picture. The fact that his family is separated right now has nothing to do with you, that was our choice," James stated firmly.

"Would you go back and change it if you could?" I asked quietly. James looked at me for a moment before turning to face the fireplace.

"I don't honestly know. He's destined to face Voldemort, one way or another, I don't know if I'd be able to let him do that. I wouldn't be able to let him do that, not without raising him to be slightly spoiled or sheltered because I'd be so afraid of losing him," James' eyes began to fill with tears just at the thought of his son dying. "I'd rather he grow up to be the fifteen year old that he was when he came back to our time. But I want to change him a little, make him happier somehow, but we can't come back just yet, we still need to find the other five Horcruxes before we can do that," he wiped his eyes determinedly.

"Well, you've got two of them and I'm sure it won't take long for you and Lily to figure something out," I encouraged him. He nodded absentmindedly.

Lily came back into the room with a large grin on her face, though it faded quickly as she took a closer look at her husband. She walked over to him and sat down on the couch next to him, allowing him to wrap an arm around her. "We'll figure it out soon, James," she said. "Only a little longer," she said the last bit in a tone that I could tell was reassuring both him and her. They looked so sad that I couldn't stand the picture any longer.

"That's it. I'm asking Dumbledore if he knows anything about Horcruxes and how to destroy them." I stated firmly. "And you can't say 'no' because it'll only bring you both that much closer to being with Harry." I folded my arms and they both just stared for a moment. "It isn't fair to you two and it especially isn't fair to him and you both know it. I'm only going to keep this secret for a little longer, and then I'm telling, no matter what you two may think. If you avoid going back for much longer you won't ever be able to go back."

James looked at Lily and nodded. "You're right," he said simply. "Maybe it would be alright to go back after getting rid of two Horcruxes. Then we can go to Dumbledore and it will all go smoother. We'll finish with Lily's research on the Wolfsbane and destroy these to Horcruxes then we'll figure out what to do. It's about time we got to know our son,"

* * *

Over the next month James and I were able to retrieve all the remaining ingredients necessary for Lily's animagus potion. She took as soon as the potion was done, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake because the potion was still boiling hot. She choked it down after realizing her mistake in her excitement and ran to the kitchen and stood in front of the sink, waiting for the potion to go into effect before she downed two full glasses of ice-cold water. James and I just burst out laughing at the expression on her face.

"You didn't say it was going to be so hot!" she fumed, though she was having a tough time hiding her smile.

"Oh, please, Lily," I smirked. "We thought you would have more sense than to take it out of a boiling hot cauldron," she gave me a small glare then turned it on James as he continued to snicker.

"Whatever, now when can I try to transform?"

"You could try now if you want, but it took us all months to do the actual transformation," James warned. "So don't be upset if--" he stopped speaking as we both felt the room go incredibly light.

Lily had tuned him out and was concentrating on transforming. And it was working. The air felt much lighter than when James and Sirius had done it, I felt as though I were about to start floating. Suddenly it all stopped and a beautiful doe. The tips of her ears were tipped with black while the rest of her fur was a deep reddish brown color. Her eyes were a shocking bright green and it was clear that that was how we would be able to tell her apart from real deer.

She turned back with a small pop and was grinning smugly at the looks on mine and James' faces. "You were saying?"

"Yeah, well…we were fifteen and in school! Plus we were helping Wormtail and Keena was blind at the time!" James started saying immediately.

"Right," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Hm…Prongs, we need a nickname for her," I stated after thinking a moment.

"Blacktip, I believe you are right," Prongs stated, nodding, though he still looked miffed. "What d'you think she should be?"

"Wait, I don't get to pick my own?" Lily asked, confused.

"None of us picked our own names," James answered shrugging.

"You're just lucky I was there, Sirius wanted to call James 'Horny'," I said, snickering at the memory. James turned red and Lily rolled her eyes. "What about Redtail?" Lily thought for a moment before she shrugged.

"It's fine with me,"

"Okay, so the remaining marauders are now Moony, Blacktip, Prongs, Redtail and Padfoot. He'll be back soon right?" James added, nervously. "Like, he can be free soon?"

"This summer in fact," I said, nodding. "By the way, Remus still thinks he betrayed you two," I added. "Nothing I say will convince him or Dumbledore otherwise, and Harry doesn't even know he exists,"

"We'll change his mind," James promised. "He's probably just trying to avoid that subject altogether," he added thoughtfully. Suddenly there was a tapping at the window.

We all looked up to see a large, official-looking owl waiting patiently outside the window. Lily frowned and opened the window using her wand and the owl flew in, landed directly in front of me and held out its leg. I took the letter and turned it over; it had the ministry of magic seal plastered onto it.

"What do you think?" I asked, looking up and looking from one face to the other.

"We're under a Fidelius, so if anything does happen, it won't affect anything," Lily answered. "You should open it."

Carefully, I undid the seal and opened the letter. After reading the first few lines, my mouth dropped open.

"What does it say?" James asked, trying to read over my shoulder.

"They've given me an official apology and pardon," I muttered. "The actual culprit behind the attacks was caught and they say they won't punish me for evading them. They promise to leave me alone from now on. How can they just do that? Do they think everything will be okay just for giving me a letter?" I asked, angrily.

"Well," James said, taking the letter from my hands. "They are also giving you quite a bit of gold for getting you fired again. They're also offering you a month long job to get you back on your feet if you want. Oh, look at this; they trust you to 'guard' the minister at his next Azkaban visit. Aren't you lucky?"

"You're joking," I said, snatching the letter back. "They can't possibly think that after my experience with dementors that I'll go willingly to the place that harbors the most of them?" James pointed to the part of the letter that explained it. "It doesn't mention that it's my choice either, damn." I crumpled the letter up in my fist. "I suppose I should go back to Hogwarts to figure this out with Dumbles, eh?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." Lily agreed. "You are going to be Kailey again soon, after all," she added. I nodded.

"Well, I can't keep them waiting, I suppose," I said, turning towards the door. "I'll keep in touch," I promised.

"We know, and we'll work really hard to finish all this," James replied and Lily nodded in agreement. "Write to us soon, okay?"

"I will," I said. "See you two later,"

Not bothering to transform, I made my way out of the forest and headed (slightly cautiously) up to the castle. Ten minutes later I found myself in front of Dumbledore's office, arguing with the gargoyle.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans? No? Okay then what about lemon drops? Sugar Quills, Ice Mice, Acid Pops…no…Blood Pops? Didn't think so…Hey, c'mon, we've known each other for some time now, I don't think I really need to use a password anymore, do you?" the stone didn't flinch. "Apparently you do…Okay…licorice wands? Honeydukes Chocolate? Honeydukes _vanilla_ chocolate? Droobles Best Blowing Gum? Ha! Finally," I shouted, punching the air in my minor triumph.

I ran up the stairs and knocked on the door, loudly, before I heard a voice on the other side telling me to come in. I opened the door and bounded inside to find the Headmaster's office nearly full to bursting. I raised my eyebrows at Harry, Ron and Ginny, all of whom were covered in grim, though Harry was also covered in a bit of blood. Ginny was being suffocated by her mother, who seemed quite beside herself. The diary lay on the desk, covered in ink with two giant holes piercing the front and back covers. _Perhaps I should have checked to see exactly when they would be going into the chamber…_

"Miss McIntosh, your timing is nearly perfect as usual," Dumbledore grinned. "I trust you received your full pardon?" I nodded.

"I get the feeling I missed out on something big," I said, eyeing the diary before giving Dumbledore a significant look. He nodded and I knew I had gotten my message across; we would be discussing a few things after the others left.

**Here's a good stopping point! The next chapter I write will be the last one of this story and I will give you the title of the next one at the end of that (believe it or not I still can't think of a good one!)! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read and who will review! Until Chapter 32!**

**:-D**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Old Life versus the New One

**Like I've been saying the whole time, this isn't my stuff and it all goes to J.K. Rowling!**

**Also like I said last chapter, this will be the last part of this story. The next story will be posted (hopefully the same day this is finished if I can!) and thanks so much to those of you who've been with this thing from the get-go and those who've come along for the ride! Read on and Enjoy!**

_Last chapter:_

"_Miss McIntosh, your timing is nearly perfect as usual," Dumbledore grinned. "I trust you received your full pardon?" I nodded. _

"_I get the feeling I missed out on something big," I said, eyeing the diary before giving Dumbledore a significant look. He nodded and I knew I had gotten my message across; we would be discussing a few things after the others left. _

* * *

"It appears that your godson and his best friend went down into the chamber to rescue young Miss Weasley here," Dumbledore said, nodding his head towards Ginny. "I'm afraid you have just missed the entire explanation, perhaps Harry will tell you another time," he added. "Until then, I believe Madame Pomfrey would like to take a look at you, Miss Weasley," Molly and Arthur nodded and left for the Hospital Wing, still coddling Ginny.

"Mr. Weasley, if you would be so kind as to mail this letter to Azkaban? For some reason or another the ministry seemed to think Hagrid needed release forms despite his full pardon," Dumbledore stated, though I could detect a small amount of anger hidden behind his twinkling eyes.

"Yes sir," Ron said, taking the envelope from Dumbledore and going out the door.

"Now, I believe that the two of you would be interested in what I have to say," Dumbledore said as the door closed once more. I stood behind Harry's chair and put a hand on his shoulder. "I believe you said, Harry, that you met Tom Riddle whilst in the chamber?"

"Yeah, I did," Harry nodded. "Professor how did his sixteen year old self know that I existed?" he asked immediately. "He wanted me to tell him how I beat him and got angry when I couldn't. Then he told me that I…that we…that we have certain similarities," he added that last bit worriedly. "I can't be like him, sir, I just can't…I'm not am I?"

"Well, Harry, it appears that there is a connection of some sort between the two of you. A connection that is possible through that scar of yours," Dumbledore answered, twiddling his thumbs. "It seems as though you were given some of Voldemort's powers when he tried to kill you and failed,"

"Harry, it's not how you two are the same that's important, everyone shares at least one similarity with another person. You are so different from Voldemort is so many ways, it doesn't matter how you are alike," I said firmly. "I mean, would Voldemort, the heir of Slytherin, have been able to pull that thing out of the hat thanks to his loyalty to Dumbledore?" I bit my lip as soon as I processed what I had said and shared a quick glance with Dumbledore, but Harry hadn't seemed to notice. He was too busy inspecting Gryffindor's sword.

"So I really do belong in Gryffindor," Harry said more to himself than to either of us, though Dumbledore nodded none the less.

"You most certainly do," Dumbledore stated. "Now, I hate to break up any reunions, however, I do need a private word with your godmother. I suggest you head up to the Hospital Wing and get yourself cleaned up, though Fawkes seems to have done well enough,"

"Thank you sir, I will," Harry said, standing. He gave me a smile. "I'll tell you and Remus everything, I promise,"

"Alright, Harry," I smiled back, hoping I didn't look too sad. I wouldn't be able to talk to him as Keena again for a long time and I knew it.

Just as Harry reached the door, it swung open violently and I found myself with my wand out, purely due to reflexes.

"Going to jinx me McIntosh? Perhaps you do belong in Azkaban," Malfoy growled before shouldering his way past me and placing his hands on top of Dumbledore's desk. "I thought I had been clear when I said you were suspended, Headmaster," he was doing a terrible job of keeping his guard up and it was all too clear that he was not happy.

I heard a small whimper and looked at the ground to see a sad looking house elf standing close to Malfoy's heal. He was dressed in a pathetic excuse for a pillow case and he looked severely beaten. He kept looking at Harry then at Malfoy then the diary. Dobby was none too subtle that was for sure.

"If I didn't know better, Lucius," I said, calmly. "Then I would think that you were a tad upset that all this trouble has finally come to an end."

"Not at all upset, I assure you," he sneered unconvincingly. "Merely confused,"

"Well, it seems as though several of the other school governors were under the impression that they and their families would be in danger had they not agreed to suspend me in the first place," Dumbledore explained as though he were telling a story. "Interesting, isn't it?"

"Very strange indeed," Malfoy agreed, though I didn't miss the look of fear that flashed through his eyes. "Well, who was the culprit then?"

"Lord Voldemort," Malfoy flinched. "He was acting through one of our students by means of this diary. Interesting how something so old found its way back to this school, isn't it? We must hope it does not happen again,"

"What would be the punishment, sir? Azkaban?" I asked in a falsely curious voice.

"Oh, most certainly," he answered. "Lucky for us, Mr. Potter was able to defeat the enchantment before anymore damage was done,"

"Lucky us," Malfoy hissed. "Come, Dobby, we are leaving," Malfoy swept out of the room, Dobby scuttling behind him. Harry and I shared a quick look and I nodded to the diary.

"Sir, could I have that?" Harry asked quickly. Dumbledore nodded, handing the worn out diary to Harry who ran out the door and slammed it behind him.

"Well, now that that is taken care of," Dumbledore began, standing up. "We're needed in the Hospital Wing," I nodded and we made our way through some secret passages before we arrived in the quiet wing.

"Where are Ginny and the others?" I asked as Dumbledore and I headed over to Madame Pomfrey's office.

"They should be here in another couple of minutes," Dumbledore answered as Pomfrey came out of the office, holding a goblet of some yellowy liquid. "Is it ready, Poppy?"

"It is, sir," she said. "You would still like Ms. Macauley to be cured first?"

"Yes," he answered.

I stayed a bit back to give Pomfrey and Dumbledore room as they awoke Kailey. I was still having a few issues dealing with the fact that I would be conversing with myself as if I were a stranger. Moments later, Kailey's brown eyes fluttered open and she began blabbering something about first year before asking if she had been petrified.

"Yes, you were, but that is not why I am here," His voice became serious.

"They found the chamber already right? Ginny is okay?"

He held up a hand. "Miss Weasley is fine, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley saw to that." She sighed in obvious relief. "But there is someone who I would like you to meet. Keena, would you come here please?" Kailey looked me up and down before Dumbledore continued. "Kailey, this is Miss McIntosh. She has some—news to tell you,"

"Wait, I thought you were going to tell—her everything," I asked in confusion, after all, he hadn't explained to me what everything really was.

"Frankly, Keena I believe you are the best to explain the situation,"

"Oh great," I replied, rolling my eyes. Typical Dumbledore…

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking between amused and concerned.

"Well, that depends on how you look at it. Let's just say that Dumbledore has a little 'errand' he'd like you to run for him,"

"It's true; there is a small task I would like to ask of you, if you wouldn't mind. You see, I can't very well trust this to a teacher or any other adult for that matter. The older one grows, the more selfish they seem to become, you see. This 'errand' as Miss McIntosh so kindly put it, involves returning to the past to deliver a message to my younger self. Most adults would take this as an opportunity to change past choices and such; however, you have already proven that you won't—crack—under pressures." _Yes, you all just thought I went insane along with Sirius…_I thought dryly. "Would you like to try this?"

"Well, I don't mind, sir, but I'm just slightly curious as to why Miss McIntosh had to be here." She answered, returning her gaze to me. I laughed.

"Think you'll figure it out," I answered and laughed a bit more as she continued to look at me hopelessly. "What's important is whether or not you'll do this for the professor, here," she looked doubtfully at her hands and bed sheets, something that I would still do on occasion. Perhaps I hadn't changed as much as I had thought. "Don't worry, everything here will wait for you. Regardless of what people say, Time does wait sometimes,"

She looked up. "Alright, I'll do it,"

"Excellent, meet me in my office, I just need to make a quick stop," Dumbledore said, rising and rushing out of the wing. A moment later Kailey told Pomfrey she had to go see Dumbledore. Pomfrey nearly exploded, so I brought her a little ways away from Kailey.

"Do you see that girl in the bed? Well, she is about to be sent back in time and I'm pretty sure you remember her first visit to you in the past. She went blind," Pomfrey went silent before nodding.

"Alright, you may go, but watch those stairs,"

I led Kailey through several secret passages to avoid coming in contact with any students before we arrived at Dumbledore's office. Without even pausing to knock, I led her inside. Several seconds later, it was like I was looking at old photographs of myself as Keena. It was really weird, especially after I changed her voice.

"Now, down to business," said Dumbledore, sitting down behind his desk. "You will be delivering a message to my past self. Unfortunately, we have no means of getting you back here immediately. This means you may have to live in the past for the next twenty years or so. This is not to be considered lightly. You will most likely end up attending Hogwarts in the past, but that means that you may have to go through schooling here twice. You are getting the opportunity to fail your first time coming through here, but I do not believe that to be a very wise decision."

"Where will I work after the first seven years sir?"

"That is entirely up to you. Going through the best years of your life twice is something most would enjoy because they could make amends to past decisions, or follow a dream they did not have the chance to follow the first time through. Though I would not recommend teaching for very long if you choose to. Not everyone can handle living here for most of their lives."

"I don't know about that Professor," I smiled. After all I had spent a lot of my years at Hogwarts even after having graduated.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Er…how far back am I going exactly?"

"Keena?"

"Twenty-one years will get you to the summer before I started first year," I said, doing a quick mental math check.

"Twenty-one years it is, then. Now, I've put information on your situation in this letter to myself, and the message you are delivering is in this envelope." Dumbledore handed her two letters, the one about her had emerald scrawl on it, while the one containing the message had spiky red. "Are you ready?"

"What if the past you doesn't believe my story?"

"Nonsense, I am very trusting,"

I snorted. There were plenty of times I could think of where he hadn't trusted me. The most recent of which involved Sirius.

"Ms. McIntosh?"

"Sorry, Professor, but I think you should give her some way of telling the past you who she is exactly."

"I wrote down my most desired Christmas present down in the letter, I will know. Now, it is time for you to be heading back Kailey," He walked over to her and tapped the time-turner. "Good luck," then she was gone.

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into," I muttered just loud enough for Dumbledore to hear. I looked up, slightly surprised to see Dumbledore nodding in agreement.

"I am sorry for what all of that put you through," he stated. "However, I do believe plenty of good came from it,"

"Including what exactly?"

"Well, Harry has experienced love and will experience more, I presume."

"I don't follow,"

"Let's not act as if the bodies that are buried under the names of Lily and James Potter haven't turned back into house beams by now," His blue eyes were twinkling madly as he gave me one of his I-know-everything-that-goes-on-in-this-castle-and-more grins. "Though I'm not entirely certain as to what they've gotten up to all these years."

"Horcruxes," I stated simply. "They've found two of them, Slytherin's ring and Hufflepuff's cup and they need to know how to destroy them. They wanted to get rid of all seven before they returned. Oh and they're working on a Wolfsbane potion, trying to find the cure actually,"

"They are trying to fix the world before they risk their family being ripped apart a second time," Dumbledore seemed to understand it all so quickly. I just nodded. "Well, now that the diary is gone and the other two you mentioned were found only four more need be destroyed. However, we can talk about that later, first you need to drink this potion," he handed me a smoking goblet.

I took it, uncertainly and looked at Dumbledore who nodded. I downed the surprisingly cold potion in one gulp and immediately felt a strange tickling sensation. I felt myself shrink a tiny bit and noticed a strange feeling in my arms and legs. Then it all stopped and I felt normal again.

"Did it work?" I asked. "Am I younger?"

"You look like the girl I just sent back in time," Dumbledore confirmed. "Now to lift all of these glamour charms," he waved his wand and the only thing that I really noticed was my hair lengthen down my back. "And now you look like Kailey…although I don't know what you are going to do about that blue streak in your hair,"

"It's still there?" I asked.

"Yes and let me fix your accent," there was a strange sensation in my throat that quickly went away. "There, now you are officially Kailey Macauley once more."

"How long d'you think it'll take me before I respond to 'Kailey' again?" I asked, grinning at the return of my American accent. He shrugged. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, you may tell your friends that you were not present when they arrived there because I wished to attempt to pry more information out of you before telling you some news that will undoubtedly cause you great distress," he answered shrugging.

"I see, and this news would be what exactly?"

"Your parents have contacted me," he said, a bit tiredly. "The amount of money that it takes to have a student commute between two countries is astounding, you see. They have decided to give you into the guardianship of your father's first cousin."

"My dad doesn't have any cousins," I replied automatically.

"On his mother's side he does," Dumbledore said, shaking his head.

"Is this the family member that was supposed to be like your bargaining chip if I ever chose to give you all the facts about the future?" I asked, now slightly curious. I missed my parents and would do anything to see them again, but at the same time I had spent the last twenty-one years without them. Nothing would really be changing as far as how I was feeling emotionally.

"Yes, he is the one I was talking about."

"But why would that distress me, sir?"

"He will arrive up here shortly," Dumbledore answered, avoiding my question. "I explained the situation to him while you were petrified. He has accepted it and will try to be…accommodating," I didn't like the sound of that. "You also have a small job with the ministry of magic before you move in with your guardian, so he now knows about your…past life shall we say? Anyway, you don't have to keep many secrets although I don't suggest bringing up anything about Lily or James in front of him,"

Before I could ask what that meant, there was a knock at the door before it opened. I turned around to find myself face-to-face with none other than Severus Snape. I blinked at him and him at me before he stepped closer to Dumbledore's desk.

"I take it you did not mention that it was I who would be taking care of her, did you Headmaster?" Snape asked, turning his sour gaze to the ancient professor. "Take your jaw off the floor," he added. I closed my mouth automatically before turning to Dumbledore.

"Sir?" I asked my voice sounding especially small.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to be challenging you to anymore duels now that I am your guardian. Though I _will _be given respect," Snape interrupted before continuing. "I understand that there is a difference between you and McIntosh," he added.

"Sir, I would like to have permission to go the Hospital Wing for a Calming Draught," I said quickly, standing up.

"No daughter of mine will take a store bought potion," Snape said, standing also. "If you require one, we shall get one from my stores,"

"_Daughter_? What happened to _guardian_ and _cousin_? There was no mention of a daughter!"

"You hadn't told her that part of it all yet?" Snape asked, getting almost as upset as me as he turned to Dumbledore. "You said you would tell her the whole thing!"

"It would have come up in your conversations eventually," Dumbledore shrugged. "I was hoping it would be after you had gotten to know each other better," he admitted.

"Whatever, this is freaky…I need to…to…digest this or something…I don't know, just don't follow me, please," I said, rubbing my temples and shaking my head. Before either of them could say a word I fled the office. My first stop was the Hospital Wing where I bumped into Hermione and Ginny, both of whom were chatting in bed.

"Kailey? Pomfrey let you out already? Wait, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, noticing my distress. Her last question, however, got Pomfrey's attention and she came flying out of her office and started shoving me back to a bed.

"There's nothing wrong, please, just give me a calming draught," I implored. "Please, I need fresh air and—and quiet," I begged before dropping my voice. "Besides, I haven't been petrified in the last decade," the last part got her attention and she agreed, giving me the potion and allowing me to exit the infirmary.

_Daughter…that makes me a Snape…that makes me related to him…we share blood…and now a house…how could that be right? How could it possibly be right…? This is just one more thing for them to all reject me for…! No, they wouldn't care…well, James might, but I'm not so worried about him…that's it, I'm not telling Harry, Ron or Hermione about my going to the past until this whole thing is taken care of…_

"Kailey?" my head snapped up to meet Harry walking towards me. Looking around I found myself in a corridor that Gryffindors use to get the Great Hall from the Common Room and vice versa. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Harry asked.

"Where's Ron?" I asked, wiping up my tears. I hadn't even noticed I was crying.

"He's with his brothers and Ginny," Harry answered. "Where were you? After you woke up I mean,"

"Dumbledore had to tell me something…" I answered, frowning again. "I'm not going back to America it seems. I'm going to be staying with—with—someone else,"

"Who?"

"My biological father," I glared bitterly at the ground.

"Oh," Harry replied. "So…did you meet him, then? Your real father?"

"Yes," I replied quietly. "Look…Harry, can I tell you more later? I'm still…I mean, no one even told me…"

"It's alright, I get it, it's a big adjustment, I'm sure," Harry said, nodding. "By the way, have you seen Keena around? I need to tell her what happened in the Chamber, I promised I would," he added as he turned to walk away.

"Uh…" it took my brain a second to catch up. "If I see her, I'll let her know," was all I could think to say.

* * *

It seemed like there was no time between that night and the last night we spent at Hogwarts. I had easily evaded any questions about my father and Harry had decided to write a letter to Keena _and_ Remus instead so the letter made it to the latter one of the two safely. I had also been successful in avoiding Snape as well, until that night that is. The four of us were on our way back to the common room when he stopped us from leaving the Great Hall.

"Ms. Macauley, if I could have a word," his usual sneer was not in place and that unnerved us all quite a bit. "She will meet you in the Common Room," he added, a small biting smirk on his face, when the others didn't move. Once they were out of hearing distance, he led me down a several hallways and staircases before we stopped in front of a large painting of a forest with a serpent with silver eyes hiding in a tree. "Silver Shadows," Snape said clearly and the portrait opened revealing a small living room.

"What's this?" I asked, looking around as he led me inside. The room reeked of Slytherin pride and I could smell the scent of burnt wood used for heating larger cauldrons.

"This is where I live during the school year," he answered. "I thought it would be proper to show it to you in case you ever needed my assistance, with all the trouble your friends seem to pull you into," I could tell he was putting all of his energy into not sounding sarcastic. "Also, I needed to tell you that you will not be riding home on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow as there will be no one to claim you,"

"But I have to go, that's one of the most important parts of being a student! It's tradition," I argued.

"It's not practical for you to ride to London just to come back," he snapped back. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I have made my decision. You may ride down to the train, but you are to come back to the castle with Hagrid,"

"What if Hagrid came to get me in London? Or if I asked if it were okay to stay with Hermione for a bit?"

"You will not be a burden on someone else's shoulders," he stated firmly.

"So that's all I am to you then? A burden? Let me just let you know that I didn't plan this either!" I shouted, becoming angrier by the second.

"Do not test me," he growled. "You are to catch up on your studies whilst we stay here," he added. "Especially in potions,"

"What if I don't give a damn about potions?"

"Do not force me to punish you,"

"Really? I'm interested in seeing what you would consider a punishment; it's not as if you can give me detention,"

"I will take away your flying privileges,"

"I don't fly," I replied hotly. "You don't even know me well enough to ground me!"

"Enough," he said it quietly, though the one word dripped with venom, but I was having trouble holding my tongue. But before I could open my mouth Snape raised his wand. "_Silencio,"_ I grabbed at my throat before taking out my own wand. "Don't even think about it," he growled. I sighed in aggravation and put my wand back into my pocket. "You are going to have to get used to this. We both need to adjust to this change and we will do so. I am going to give you your voice back and you are to go to Dumbledore's office. He wishes to help you tie up a few loose ends as 'Keena'. Now go," he waved his wand and I stalked out of the room.

Moments later I was in Dumbledore's office as he paced behind his desk.

"Well, now the moment of truth," he said finally, taking a seat. "You are familiar with animagus theory?" he asked. I nodded, still fuming about my argument with Snape. "Good. All you need to do now is will yourself to become Keena. If my theory was correct, you should be able to transform into her and back again."

I sighed and thought of myself as 'Keena' before there was a faint 'pop' and I opened my eyes. Dumbledore smiled widely.

"Very good," he nodded. "Now the minister has requested that you go with him to Azkaban in a few days when he checks up on the security. He claims that it will be a chance for you do 'redeem' yourself and prove you are not in league with Sirius Black. I assume Severus has told you that you will be spending much of your summer here?" I nodded at his pause. "Good, now then, onto the next issue. What is it that you are going to tell Harry?"

* * *

The next morning I went to breakfast (as Kailey) and sat down with Harry, Ron and Hermione. It wasn't long before we huddled close together and they asked what Snape had wanted.

"I'll be staying at Hogwarts," I answered. "My…father…he doesn't think it's practical for me to take the train to London," I replied, looking anywhere but their shocked faces. "He won't even let me come and see you guys off," I added. That part wasn't exactly true, but 'Keena' needed to talk to Harry alone so I had to sacrifice something.

"Kailey, I am so sorry," Hermione replied. "What if you stayed with me and my family for a few nights?"

"He said he didn't want me to be a burden on anyone," I answered bitterly. "I'll be alright," I sighed. "Maybe I can try to get him to lighten up," I smiled weakly.

Breakfast ended much sooner than I would have liked and the students began emptying the hall. I said goodbye to the others and rounded a corner where I transformed myself into Keena again. I waited a moment before walking into the crowd. Harry ended up finding me and rushed over.

"Was my letter bad enough that you had to come here to get me to explain?" he asked, sounding a bit worried.

"No, that's not it," I answered. I couldn't keep the sadness out of my voice. This was going to break him. "Harry, I need to tell you something."

"What is it? Is something wrong? Is it Remus?" he began interrogating immediately.

"No, it's not Remus, Harry," I answered quickly. "It's just…I—well…I'm going to be out of the country for a while."

"That's okay, I can write to you,"

"That's the problem, Harry," I answered. "I'm going to be out of contact."

"Oh," he began to frown. "When will you be back?"

"I don't…know," I answered, lamely. "It could be a few weeks or even a few months,"

"Not years though, could it?"

"No more than two," after all, he had known who I was in his fifth year. His frown deepened. "You can still write to Remus and…and…maybe he can get letters to me or maybe if you went through Dumbledore…"

"You're leaving?" I could tell that his full question was 'You're abandoning me?' and it was ripping me apart.

"Harry, listen to me, you're a great kid. I need you to stay that way so that I have one constant in my life. Okay?" he nodded and I pulled him into a hug, despite the groups of people that were still making their way out to the carriages, he allowed me to. "I'll always be there when you need me most," I promised. "If you need anything, write to Moony, he'll figure out how to get to me, okay?" he nodded before giving me one final look. "I'll be seeing you,"

"Yeah, see you," he replied before going to find Ron and Hermione. He was the last one to leave the Great Hall before the doors closed. I transformed back into myself and went ran all the way to the North Tower. I could just make out the last car of the train leaving the Hogsmeade station just as I reached the window.

"Kailey," I jumped to see Snape walking over to me. "Come, we have work to do,"

**An incredibly long chapter to tie up as many things as I could for this story! Don't worry, I won't leave you all wondering about the next story, I'm putting up the next in the series the same time as I post this! It's called ****Promises to Secrets, Secrets to Lies****. I hope you all enjoyed this part of the series and read the next story! **

**:-D**


End file.
